Essence
by Consort
Summary: Where did Dehaka go, after the fall of Amon? Cover art gifted by Fangtom. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Prompt: Where did Dehaka go, in the end?**

 **This boredom-fueled thing ended up turning into some kind of arc that would have worked as game DLC. Enjoy, and stuff.**

Change was the only constant in Dehaka. It was a good five years since Amon fell: Barren planets were becoming lively, Terran economy was growing, the Tal'darim nearly threw everything back into war two and a half times, and so forth. Dehaka wasn't too interested.

As the last surviving primal pack leader, Zagara had offered (well, Kerrigan had left an explicit order to offer) to return him to his homeworld of Zerus, to guard the first spawning pool's remaining power. He could still recall his exact response, and why he gave it.

"There is much more unique essence throughout this sector. I would rather have a way to reach it, than to hold onto the past. You may take Zerus. I desire a Leviathan."

And so he took a smaller, slightly modified leviathan. A behemoth. And now he was searching over one of the worlds filled with new life, a veritable resevouir of essence.

* * *

He realised a little later that he wasn't the only one on the planet he'd landed on this week. There was an unmistakable Terran presence, at least a year old. Even with the races at 'peace', he was slightly annoyed. If they beat him to rare essence, it could be lost for good. He opted to investigate.

He located a small Terran base. Possibly the only one on the planet, given the miniscule presence they'd had. He lurked under the ground, watching from the shadows, waiting for information to come.

He recognized the types of Terran immediately: Ghosts. Almost all of them had strong psionic signatures. Perhaps this was a training facility? No, or the Dominion would have kept him away from this world. Then he saw one very famous Terran.

The rogue ghost, Nova. Involved in the first incident of the Tal'darim nearly causing a third war. News reached Dehaka slowly, but some uproars were heard across the sector. This must be her base. _Best to leave soon,_ Dehaka thought. He'd left his pack to comb the rest of the planet, and fighting multiple ghosts alone is generally a bad idea.

Dehaka was a few miles away, preparing to leave for the leviathan, when the hairs on his back prickled. He rolled to one side, and fired a spike from his tail -a new trick-, denting the barrel of Nova's rifle. Nova backed away quickly. "Terran! Explain yourself!" Roared Dehaka, diving for her. Or rather, the shimmer next to her.

He hit the shimmer, which fell to the ground with an 'Oof!'. The real Nova became visible, and the hologram faded. Nova grimaced "Damn, so this is how it ends?"

"I am Dehaka. One who collects. You may not recognize me, Nova, but I am one who was a commander under Kerrigan. Leave me be. I have no need for your essence, and to fight would be a waste." Dehaka rumbled.

Nova stood up, brushing some dirt off her armour. "What, the primal? Well, I'd be thankful if you didn't tell anyone we're here. But why aren't you attacking? Not very zerg of you."

"I have lived a thousand times longer than most zerg. I know which battles are to be fought. Which are a waste. I have terran essence. I do not need psionics. You have no essence worth a fight."

Dehaka grunted, and walked off. The sniper round crashed into his back. This had exactly two effects: one, there was now an ultra-high grade, armour-piercing round stuck somewhere inbetween Dehaka's chest and back, and two, Dehaka was now _pissed off._ "Terran!" He spat, roaring.

Nova was already loading her second round. Her grade of bullet couldn't be automated due to the size, and nobody tried to because one was normally enough. Dehaka made an unusual chittering sound, as Nova's ghost squadron of five decloaked.

Dehaka's chittering was his way of calling aid. The back two ghosts lost their legs as primal roaches appered from below. the remaining three squad members shot them apart quickly, but the fight was lost before it had started. The average primal lived for two years. Dehaka had picked up a few life lessons in two thousand. And a very good one was to keep a few allies handy.

Nova slugged Dehaka squarely in the forehead with her second shot. The round cracked Dehaka's plate, and the shock alone would have turned his brain to liquid if not for the fact it was an obvious weakness he'd guarded against long ago. The structure of his body dispersed the impact, and that was all the time Dehaka needed to stab Nova in the stomach with his longer claws.

Of the remaining three ghosts, two were killed trying to escape when hydralisks caught them. One lived to tell the tale and save Nova's life with some fast talking.

Nova clutched her bleeding wound in agony, dropping her rifle. "D-damn... Run, team. I'm sorry, Reigel, Casa..."

Two ghosts fled immediately. The third unhurt ghost jumped in front of Nova. "Wait! I'm the one you're after, I shot you in the back!" He said. It was a total lie, but not an unconvincing one.

Dehaka did not show amusement by laughing. But other self-aware zerg would have noticed his tail flick. "Why should I let her live? Perhaps I should show her how getting shot feels." The ghost flinched. He couldn't read Dehaka's mind. "Are you surprised I can operate your tools? I changed a hand just in case. I change all to suit all."

The ghost's mind raced... "I'll give you information if you let us go!" he shouted.

"Such as?" Dehaka was enjoying making the ghost suffer. He knew he had some time before any reinforcements could arrive.

The ghost drew a blank, but Nova wasn't going to let a six-inch deep stab wound slow her mind. "There is a rare species of fast-burrowing mole on this planet. Date file 17 says you burrow to travel, so you can't pass up the opportunity to get it. You can find them living on the hill by there. To draw them out, broadcast a sound of frequency 51 hertz. And I can't lie right now, since I'm surrounded and I can't walk. But you have only got time to get them if you move now, because we'd find your leviathan before you could otherwise, leaderless or not."

"Compelling. You may go, terran. If you see me again, then it will be because you are about to die." Said Dehaka, calling off his pack.

* * *

In Daelaam space, a Protoss supply craft was suddenly having a very unique problem: A leviathan had warped into the exact same place it had warped. The two crafts were of great size, so neither had the time to stop before a collision.

Dehaka received a message from a disgruntled pilot. "You stupid, stupid, senseless..." He had been ranting for the last minute before someone considerably calmer pushed him out of the way. Karax's gear hadn't changed a bit.

"So, is this a social call or are you here to start another war?" Karax joked. The ceasefire between Protoss and Zerg was based on one fact: Protoss were useless to zerg, zerg were death to pretty much anything. Solid grounds to ignore each other.

Dehaka didn't get it "My behemoth was drawn off course. It sensed a psionic signture imprinted into it."

Karax turned to the technician next to him. "Great job, Falar. Seal the breach quickly, or we'll lose our power cells. Uh, anyhow Dehaka. My people do not take kindly to having their ship crushed. But alas, we were also drawn off course. We detected a psionic signature matching the infamous Kerrigan here, so I investigated. We found it coming from this thing." He held up a rusty metal disc. "An old psi-emitter. Probably the reason our ships are currently crashed together."

Dehaka looked at the device sideways "I am no psionic. It is simply metal to me. Now, move your ship back so my behemoth can leave. There is no essence here."

Karax gestured to a display. It looked terrible over the behemoth's connection. "That's not going to work for either of us. To cut a long story short, one of my crew accidentally caught the attention of some feral zerg. Their leviathan will be upon us before we can disengage, and they're out for blood. We... unfortunately, we must work together if we wish to survive."

"I have seen many alliances. This is neccessary. They will board your craft of metal first. Easier to infest. I will move my pack to your ship. We will surprise them." Replied Dehaka.

The leviathan appeared next to the pair of ships. At least twice the weight of Dehaka's behemoth, and three times Karax's ship. The ferals were upon them in an instant. Nydus worms crashed into the ship's shielding with intent to simply rip the vessel apart. The ferals were mad with bloodlust.

Karax was giving commands to a computer absurdly fast. The ship did have defences, and even a few zealots and two high templar, but there had been no reason to bring any true war machines. Karax paled as he received a message from his console. "Breach on the lower decks! They're putting their forces into that area, move fast templar!"

The high templar were happy to demonstrate why they were high templar. Dehaka could feel their psionics from his ship. Of course, they weren't expected to hold the breach alone. Primal underlings were a great substitute for a defensive wall, it turned out.

Karax was working with a dozen consoles at once. "We need a plan, and soon. They outnumber us one to three, and I only have a dozen fighters."

"Our opportunity to strike has not presented itself. It will not until that leviathan moves to attack me." Said Dehaka.

"It'll only switch to you when my ship has fallen! Zealots, pull back from the area, I've primed new defences along the corridor." Said Karax.

Dehaka watched as Karax's ship began to break in two. And there was his chance.

Karax was, despite his modesty, a battle-hardened being. He was still searching for solutions to his situation even as the end of his ship broke off. But then he saw the Behemoth make it's move. It flew for the leviathan, Karax's ship still stuck to it's side. This turned Karax's ship over, forcibly tearing the nydus worms in it's hull in half, but the real spectacle was the fact the side of the behemoth slammed into the front of the leviathan. It was a zerg-on-zerg broadside.

The Behemoth had Nydus canals, but they served their purpose. The leviathan suddenly had four breaches within ten metres of it's nerve centre, and primal zerg flowing from each. Dehaka hacked through the enemy zerg quickly, with no intention of giving the rest time to react. He tore through enemies until he reached the nerve centre, and it was over for the leviathan. Dehaka made sure he'd destroyed every nerve cluster in the room before leaving. The effect was immediate. The leviathan was dead where it was. Now it was just a matter of retreating through the nearest Nydus canal. The ferals were nowhere near the strength of the primals, lacking the leadership to set ambushes or focus on a target.

Dehaka's behemoth detached, leaving the leviathan as nothing more than an oversized bag full of maddened ferals. He turned to the behemoth's psionic communicator. "Successful. However, my pack is weakened. We must land and regrow. Move your ship back, protoss."

Karax frowned "I'd like to, but I cannot. We have no thrusters. Also, scans indicate only one site nearby we can reach in warp. It's a powerful terran world, so you'll need us to land."

"Take me there. We must move quickly, before space claims us." Dehaka said.

* * *

The world of Draconis V was confused when it received a protoss distress signal. More so when they read the attached message. 'Must make emergency landing. Do not fire on craft. Currently on board damaged ship attached to allied zerg craft. Will explain.' And the most confused of all were the inhabitants of the mining outpost when both a Behemoth and a protoss exploration ship crashed twenty metres from thier base.

Karax cheered "We made the landing! It'll be easy from here." A tile fell from the roof. His ship was in pieces.

The behemoth had fared just a little better, but not much. The landing had been rough, and it had taken damage during Dehaka's broadside. To Dehaka's annoyance, the Behemoth was too tired to properly run it's communicator.

Karax was the first to step outside. His ship looked like it had been used as a cosmic football. Not good for much but scrap.

Dehaka left his Behemoth to set up his base, and noticed a more relevant problem. At least a dozen marines looking at the two crashed ships. "Karax! Diplomacy is your business. Make them leave, I'm going to find a mineral formation." He growled, burrowing into the ground.

Karax turned to look at the welcome party "High smith Karax, at your service. Our vessels were attacked, and both needed to land. Your authorities have been notified."

The lead marine rolled up his visor. "Well, you got any permission to land, buddy? And what about that thing?" He pointed at the Behemoth.

"I crashed before the reply could come through, but if I don't have permission then I'd like to know why. Emergency landings are covered by your own treaty." Replied Karax.

Dehaka emerged from the floor. "We can probably win in a fight. There is a mineral deposit fifty metres below ground, Karax. My forces will be replenished soon. I will leave to hunt now. I do not often have a reason to explore terran domain." And he was gone again.

"Wait no, I don't know if you can..." Karax sighed "Well, I guess we were only allies because it was life and death. I'll try and get him off world quickly, terrans."

The leader just shrugged "Buddy, my pay grade covers guarding our tool shed from robbers. Not a joint invasion of the planet. Just do whatever. It's a dumb place anyway."

"I'll need some minerals to fix my communications. Then I can contact the Heirarch. Though I am unsure about Dehaka. He just wants to find unique things to eat, I think." Said Karax.

* * *

Dehaka didn't stay for long. By the time the planet authority had scraped together an anti-zerg task force, his Behemoth was in space, fully healed.

Dehaka considered where to go next. The swarm was a big no, Zagara would have him killed and Abathur was insufferable anyways. Terran worlds could be explored for essence, but systematically making enemies of a race generally doesn't work in the long term. Zerus was the swarm's now, but there was nothing he hadn't done there. The protoss were also a bad choice. Still, Aiur had some lingering infestations and they might have useful adaptations. Perhaps a chaotic area full of outlawed terrans and feral zerg? The Dominion wouldn't care if pirates mysteriously disappeared, or thier worlds had a few less species. They'd be dowright thankful for less feral zerg. Yes, it was a safe bet. To survive, Dehaka needed essence. So he traveled to a place he could gather it unseen.


	2. Chapter 2: A motley crew

Chapter 2: A lawless system

The pirate system was so inhospitable, even Dehaka wondered how the inhabitants were so numerous. The Behemoth trundled along through space, observing from afar as two pirate groups engaged each other. Only three ships on each side, but they were out for blood. Dehaka opted to ignore them- the chance of any essence over there being worth the trouble was flatter than a drone.

The first life-bearing planet he came to was oddly remniscient of both Char and Zerus. Thick jungle shrouded the planet, but lakes of lava pooled that were visible from space. And of course, a planet couldn't resemble Char or Zerus without a whole lot of zerg.

 _And yet somehow the terrans have a settlement here._

Dehaka brought the behemoth down about two kilometres from the terran settlement. The area was far less populated by Zerg, but Dehaka would still have bet his freshly-regrown arms that the Terrans wouldn't be this far from home. The single zergling caught underneath had no clue what hit it. Now, Dehaka had some things to do. First, essence for himself. He needed to keep evolving, stay ahead of age and weariness. And also eat. Second, the behemoth. It was a long way behind the leviathan in terms of evolution, but Dehaka had seen primal zerg that had come out of hiding years later than their brethren and flourished, becuse they'd been able to see the mistakes others made. So he could do the same. A regular leviathan was simply better numerically. Stronger psionics, better armour, and so on. But Dehaka knew that he could innovate. He was not Abathur, and accepted he would not rival the evolution master within the next thousand years, but manually adding traits to the behemoth was easy enough. And thirdly, Dehaka needed to get some important items from the terrans... specifically, a device that could connect to their news networks.

Task one was first nature to Dehaka. A confused planetary explorer could have sworn they saw one of the feral zerg they had been observing disappear below ground _backwards_ , but he decided it was just his eyes playing tricks. Meanwhile, Dehaka was chewing on the remains of the creature. It had mostly inferior essence to whatever Dehaka had, but Dehaka could taste very potent heat resistance befitting this scorching world. It seamlessly melded into his genes, his hide taking on an unusually glossy sheen. Could the behemoth make use of heat resistance? Not really. Dehaka had no plans to fly into stars or active volcanoes, and flamethrowers don't work in space.

Next, the terrans. While Dehaka had had his fill of terran essence years ago on Korhal, and would normally have outright refused things that couldn't change, the power of the news networks was something not to be ignored when it came to information. If any abnormally strong zerg came into contact with the Terrans, then he had a fighting chance of reaching them before extermination forces could be dispatched.

Now, stealing something would be easy. Dehaka could probably have taken on half the town in one go, without aid. But working out how to operate technology from scratch, and maintaining it? Very difficult. And besides, Dehaka knew he didn't need to have his own device. A spy would do just fine.

This was why, in the dead of night, the ramshackle pirate town's tech dealership had its first break-in of the month. Normally these break-ins were met by the automatic security alarm and the owner's shotgun, but believe it or not, electronic systems actually need to be in one piece to function and right now this one was being chewed apart by a drone. The drone left the system on the floor outside, and dug into a wall. The room was now literally and figuratively bugged. It told the behemoth it was done, and that in turn told Dehaka to begin stage two. Covering up suspicion.

Dehaka had learned that if you needed to hide something small, you just had to give the searchers something else to look at. In this case, a broken window. The two-thousand year old, immensely wise and cunning primal pack leader took a leaf out of the common vandal's book, and threw a brick through the establishment's window. The upstairs lights were on within the moment, but even if they had looked outside, they'd have seen nothing but some freshly churned dirt.

* * *

Monitoring the news the following day was a matter of patience. Dehaka swore if he heard one more repetition of 'Kate Lockwell unveils ghost scandal' he'd just switch back to normal planet sweeping, but then something more interesting happened.

The news anchor's voice could be heard clearly as it said "We've got a fresh scoop coming in now, ladies and gentlemen! Our protoss correspondants have an interview with none other than the infamous high smith himself, Karax, regarding the run in with mysterious Zerg. Now, over to you, High smith. Just what did you encounter out there?"

Karax could be heard over the bug. "Well, it was a normal scouting mission to investigate a psionic signature, but we found a relic from the time of your confederacy. An old emitter for attracting zerg. The problem is that a crewmember fixed it where we were and made it attract more than it used to, and it goes without saying that drawing in zerg without a way to deal with them is the worst of ideas. Yet, Tassadar or Khas or maybe Kerrigan herself smiled on us that day."

"Kerrigan? I would have thought the protoss would dislike her, not worship her." Interjected the news anchor.

"Yes, but when the zerg come to save you from the zerg, I think credit is due. You see, a zerg ally from the void war was drawn at the same time, and by some miracle decided to actually help us rather than feed on us. It was quite unbelievable, watching zerg fight other zerg for the sake of the protoss. Afterwards, we had to make emergency landings on one of your worlds, and my ally left within the hour."

"You didn't try to stop them leaving?"

"Even if my ship had been more than scrap by then, I don't recommend trying to order zerg commanders around. That has a tendency to end badly for nearby worlds, and that one isn't even ours to begin with. Do you have any more questions? I ought to return to overseeing Auir's rebuilding efforts."

"No rest for the weary, I see! Well, I think the viewers are just dying to know: What do you think happened to your ally? Scans say they left the area."

"That's a tough question. But I imagine that they're searching out new worlds, judging by my memories of them. That commander mainly wants to find essence. Now, I must bid you farewell. The citadel won't rebuild itself!"

"There you have it viewers, now back to Kate Lockwell's brave decloaking of the ghost program!"

Dehaka stopped listening. There was work to be done.

* * *

Hunting on this planet, Newton 3, Was borderline fun. At least, for Dehaka. Some people got adrenaline rushes from jumping off cliffs with hang gliders, some from blowing everything apart with a shotgun. Dehaka from such blissfully unaware prey. Even his Ultralisks, the absolute opposite of stealth units, could sneak up on these ferals. They'd evolved some ingenious sequences, from climbing on one hundred and ten degree surfaces, to gaseous explosions in broodlords to quickly escape areas, but these Terrans had managed to train the whole planet to do one thing: Expect threats to be obvious and in a blue metal suit. Dehaka was searching for a good leviathan trait all day. A few potentially good ones came up: Psionic discharges that would be like a omnidirectional orbital strike would be amazing weapons of war, but the amount of food needed to do that... no. Eventually, Dehaka settled on adding obscuring fumes. When in an atmosphere, the behemoth would discharge small amounts of a reactive gas that would make a thick cloud of black smoke, rendering infra-red and standard vision useless before it dissipated. It would certainly be a useful trait for avoiding detection. Now to add it.

Consider that all commands Dehaka gave the behemoth were given verbally from the highly protected nerve centre. Consider also that having an area sealed in case of dangerous splashes of acid meant tight corridors leading up to it. And lastly, consider that whenever the zerg upgrade something, the seals over the area are quite large.

Having the corridor to the nerve centre blocked for a while was no issue. In fact, Dehaka appreciated a chance to digest his many meals in peace. Unfortunately, he didn't get that chance because when the flesh in the corridor swelled, an invisible figure was caught in the middle. Dehaka poked it with a sharp claw.

"Ow!" came a child's voice.

A single terran was unveiled. Blonde hair, blue eyes, female... and seven years old. They had a miniature ghost suit. The swelling corridor had caught them by surprise, pinning them against the wall.

Dehaka eyed the child in confusion "How did you get here?" He observed the stuck child, who was silent in fear. "You smell like that one. Nova. Are you here on her orders, terran?"

The child wriggled, trying to get out of the corridor. "No! I'm... um..."

"Explain yourself quickly. Why are you here?"

"Well... mom grounded me for going out at night, and then I thought she was stupid, a-and then I ran away, and I found your thing, and I went inside to investigate, and then it lifted off! I'm sorry!"

"Arrogant. I should eat you. The weak and foolish die. That is the way of the zerg." Growled Dehaka.

"But I said I was sorry!" Whined the girl as Dehaka walked forwards. "Please! I'm sorry! My mom... my mom will kill you!"

"And who, exactly, is she?" Said Dehaka, his face inches away from the child's. He was impressed. Some Terrans with fifty times the physical strength had been reduced to tears when a zergling cornered them, and they had the ability to move and access to guns.

"Nova!" said the child.

Everything fell into place. That was how they were able to stay cloaked from an entire behemoth. That was why they had the mental strength not to cry. Dehaka considered his options.

He could just eat the Terran and be done with it. But he had no desire to evolve psionics, and there was no other Terran trait worth having.

Or maybe... he could make an investment. Terrans valued their young. And Nova could certainly deal in essence. "Interesting. I will return you, in exchange for essence. Contact your... _mom_."

"No." Said the seven year old. Dehaka cocked his head in confusion. "She's boring! She just keeps saying 'That's not safe, Casa!' She never lets me do anything!"

"Do you not understand your situation? Almost any other terran would be dead by now." Said Dehaka.

"But I like being out here! It's way less boring than home! I've never seen even a bit of my planet, but out here I've seen like three worlds already!" Argued Casa.

"If you cannot bring essence, you mean nothing to the zerg. I will have Stukov contact Nova. "

"Well... I'll get you essence! Just don't tell my mom, pleeease!" Whined the girl.

Dehaka's larger arms tapped the ground in annoyance. "Prove it. We will leave for another world shortly. If you bring me essence, you may stay. Also, I am Dehaka, one-who-collects."

The child gasped "Oh, yay! Yay yay yay! I won't fail you! What's for lunch?"

"What do you mean, lunch?"

"I'm hungry!"

"Go and hunt."

"But I'm stuck here?"

Dehaka roughly pulled Casa out of the wall. "True. If you cannot last until the paths open, I could regurgitate something."

"Re... gurge...tate. What is that? Is it a magic trick? Do that."

Dehaka spat up... something that might have been meat. Casa paled, and was about to say she wasn't hungry, but she really was. _'No. I can eat my vegetables! There's no way this as bad as vegetables!'_ She muttered to herself. She took a bite.

It was, in fact, worse than vegetables.

* * *

The Behemoth came down on the serene world of Hades 6. Due to an abundance of copper, a lot of the local flora was a pretty shade of blue. Only Casa appreciated it. Dehaka landed the Behemoth in a pit, allowing the cloaking gases to hide it. He, his pack, and Casa disembarked the Behemoth.

"Terran. You may only continue to travel with my pack if you can bring me essence that I would not otherwise gather. Also, this planet has some protoss purifiers."

"Wait! What is essence?"

"Useful biomass. It most importantly has useful traits I can evolve."

Dehaka burrowed into the earth, and his pack dispersed. Casa looked around. "I'm gonna get essence!" She said to herself. She took two steps and tripped, falling on her face, but was tough enough to ignore the graze and forge on.

Casa's quest for essence went about as well as could be expected. Her hostile environment suit worked just fine against the stony floor, but Casa didn't have a weapon, or the strength to use one. A standard issue sniper would have removed her arm with the recoil. And while her psionics were amazing for a seven year old, she couldn't just point her finger at a target and fry it. Her training had been personally planned by Nova, but Nova had had no intention of covering CQC until her daughter was at least nine. A wild animal was in a nearby glade. How, considering Dehaka's pack had passed through, Casa didn't know. It was a small, stocky quadruped, with a furred back.

But she realised there had to be a reason. As Casa crept closer, she brushed against a large rock. In an instant, the animal dove into the ground, the hairs visibly locking together. Casa walked over, picked up a small piece of flora that looked like a stick, and poked it. The hairs reflexively moved to block the stick.

"I found a thing...!" Casa breathed. She felt unstoppable. The smartest seven year old on the world. In fact, she was: No others on the world were seven.

While Casa couldn't just make her discovery explode with her mind- she was too innocent, even if she had been more powerful-, she could make it levitate. Casa stuck out her hands, frowned strongly, held her breath and started trying to lift the creature. It was exhausting, and Casa eventually couldn't hold her breath anymore and blew a raspberry. She strenuously turned it upside down and dropped it. To her satisfaction, it didn't rise, waving its legs in the air.

She sat down, exhausted, and looked at the helpless thing. And the large bipedal white robot next to it.

* * *

Yttrius had been having a stressful five hours. Zerg had been sighted all over the planet without warning, but none of the reports could be proved and there were no leviathans in orbit. The purifiers had formed a sort of police force after the End War, and with each unit guaranteed a competent, tactical mind they were damn good at it. A small base on a planet could hunt down every major criminal in the system. Unless said system was literally overflowing with major criminals.

Yttrius wondered if this juvenile terran knew anything about this. And just how on Hades 6 did she get from the human settlement on the other side of the planet to here? "Greetings." He said.

Casa looked at him with stars in her eyes. "Hello..."

"I must ask you some questions. Have you seen any zerg in the surrounding area?" Asked Yttrius. His voice was calm, but a slight crackle betrayed his apprehension. You do not just find babies of a sentient race in the middle of a forest. Something was afoot.

"Mmm... yeah! Mister Dehaka is a zerg!"

Yttrius decided today would be a long day. "Can you explain further?"

"Wellll... My mom is really boring, so I ran away and hid in this cave. But it wasn't a cave, it was a spaceship! A zerg spaceship! And Dehaka leads it. He found me on board way later, and he was really scary, but he said I could stay if I brought him essence! So I found this thing!" She pointed at the hapless creature.

"Dehaka... Allow me a moment to access the database of named zerg." Yttrius' visor glowed. "I have a match. Do you wish to know more about him, young terran?"

"Yes! But tell me in a cool way!" Said Casa.

Yttrius deepened his voice. "Entity: Dehaka. One of the most powerful and dangerous zerg alive, due to extreme experience and wisdom. Fought to invade Korhal, during the end of Emporor Arcturus' reign, and successfully toppled the planet's defences." He held out a hand, playing a video of the invasion, billions upon billions of zerg descending from the sky. Casa was enthralled. "Later, in the End War, he fought alongside the heroes of the races against the dark god Amon. Little is known of his postwar activity, but his threat level has been measured as class 1-3. Extremely dangerous if given reason, but unlikely to attack the Terrans or Protoss."

"So cool... Do you want to come and meet him?" Said Casa.

Yttrius had hit his daily limit for 'unlikely events'. "Hold. This matter is of sufficient importance to contact Talandar for advice." He stiffened momentarily, and his visor flashed.

"This is Talandar speaking. I hope this is an emergency, we are holding council."

"I have a juvenile terran of high psionic power that claims to know, and be on somewhat friendly terms with the zerg Dehaka. I also have seen some evidence to support this claim, and now request guidance."

"Hierarch Artanis wishes we investigate, and I support this notion. I will share your mind for the time being. Use caution. En taro Tassadar."

"En taro Tassadar." Yttrius' visor flashed again. "Let us proceed to where we can find Dehaka. Additionally, what is your name, young one?"

"Casa! Who are you?"

"I am Yttrius. Talandar, leader of my kind, also extends greetings. Lead me, Casa"

"Okay, but can you carry that for me? You're so cool!"

"Very well." Yttrius picked up the upturned animal.

* * *

Of all the things Dehaka had expected to find at the Behemoth's crater, Casa with a captured animal and a purifier were low on the list. "What is the meaning of this, Casa?" he growled, and looked at the purifier. "Why are you here?"

Casa spoke first "I got an essence! Look!" She pointed at the animal.

"I am Talandar, speaking through the purifier Yttrius. Greetings, Dehaka. We have many questions, but we will not interfere with you unless you wish to harm the Terran."

Dehaka inspected the animal. After a few moments, he ripped into it with his teeth. Casa watched, fascinated. It was the first time she'd seen death. "...This essence has some good use. You may stay."

Casa jumped in the air and punched the sky "Yeaaah!"

"If you are done. Why did you allow this Terran to travel with you?" Said Talandar.

"I have already had Terran essence. I do not want psionics. This female offered to bring me essence in exchange for travelling. I accepted."

"Truthful. Are you properly equipped to care for a juvenile Terran?"

"I have secure chambers, and available water. Although, they do not seem to be capable of hunting lesser zerg for food." Dehaka answered.

"I... see. And do you have any objections to Yttrius joining you? He will provide essence, if you wish. The Daelaam wish to protect this juvenile until the matter can be handed to Valerian."

"You may join. But, you cannot enter the nerve centre of the Behemoth. And, if you betray me, my pack will tear you both apart. Do you understand?"

"Yes. En taro Kerrigan"

"En taro..." Dehaka struggled for a protoss name. It was a tremendous insult not to return this, that he was sure of. "Artanis"

Yttrius' visor flashed, signifying he was back in control of his body. "Casa. From here forth, I will act as your bodyguard. Dehaka. lead onwards."

* * *

November Terra was turning her entire planet upside down looking for Casa. Stab wound forgotten, she flew her ship around the world for the sixth time in a week, searching for a psionic signature. She hadn't slept in almost forty hours.

"Casa... where are you?!" She shouted at her console.

 **Author's notes: This story was originally planned as a oneshot. But since it got a postive reception, I have no problems giving you another chapter. In fact, I'll expand it a lot if you want. Dehaka's overdue for some love.**

 **Mpopl2: Thanks! if it wasn't for this comment, there wouldn't have actually been more, so I guess that's why it's good to comment! :)**

 **Howling Din: I had a story plotting itself just before your comment came in, but suffice it to say: I'm not into disappointing people. Thanks for the compliment though, it means more coming from a fellow writer.**


	3. Chapter 3: Learning fast

Chapter 3

Yttrius was having a stressful day. It was his first day on board the Behemoth, and he already wondered how exactly Casa had survived. The girl had no sense of self-preservation. First it was trying to stop her from trying to chase an irate zergling, then finding her something that was actually edible, then it was stopping her trying to fly using her psionics... Although he would admit the last one would be an interesting use of her powers.

Casa was having a slightly less exciting day than she'd hoped. Yttrius hadn't even let her try jumping into the spawning pool to see how big a splash she would make. But she was having fun waving around the stick she'd picked up on Hades 6. It was the girl's first physical weapon, if a somewhat primitive one.

Dehaka was having a good day. Yttrius had offered to monitor the police news for him, and he was an information mine. A Pirate base on Fioralis VII? Dehaka knew that. That the pirate base specialised in dealing illegal weapons and the planet had a lot of zerg? That jumped it from 'Avoid' to 'The destination'.

The Behemoth touched down out of sight of the pirates. While Dehaka really did want to get his claws into whatever adaptations the local zerg had, he didn't want to go up against an angry bunch of pirates. His pack massed outside, Yttrius and Casa following. "You know what I expect."

"Wait, mister Dekaha?" Said Casa.

"Yes?"

"I want to go with you this time! It would be really cool to see you hunting!"

Yttrius looked at the girl "Casa, I must advise against this. It is likely you cannot keep up with him. Though, it is your choice."

Dehaka looked at Casa "You may follow. But, you will have to help bring down prey. Do not waste time. I will go now."

Dehaka walked off, and Casa and Yttrius closely trailed him. Dehaka moved quickly, forcing Casa to run. Casa ran out of stamina after twenty minutes, but Yttrius scooped her up and carried her. He walked for around an hour, before coming to a canyon. It wasn't incredibly deep, perhaps a ten metre drop, but the bottom seethed with zerg. Yttrius barely recognised a few of them.

"We must draw one away from them. Perhaps if... Where is Casa, Yttrius?" Said Dehaka.

Yttrius snapped to attention "Oh, by Adun! She was here a moment ago, where has she gone?!" Wait, look down there!"

A feral zergling was levitating. There were slight footprints in the creep. Yttrius put two and two together. "She's down there. If she decloaks... at least fifteen zerglings are there, and two hydralisks. I must be ready to intervene. I request you target the Hydralisks, if this is not a lost battle."

Yttrius unsheathed dual wrist blades. They were solid metal, unlike psiblades, but the edges glowed orange with the power of solarite. He waited tensely, every motor primed, While Dehaka lowered his centre of mass and prepared to lunge. For just a moment, the two absolute opposites were doing the same. Then came the signal.

A wet raspberry sound, as Casa decloaked and gasped for breath, dropping the zergling.

Yttrius was in front of her before it hit the ground, bisecting it. Dehaka landed not a second later, his larger arms driving their longer claws through the skulls of the two Hydralisk. Yttrius fought as zealots do, every strike made with conviction and precision. Casa was behind him, and actually acted somewhat smartly, throwing back zerglings that tried to dart around Yttrius. Dehaka was mercilessly ripping through his foes, co-ordinating both his sets of arms to tear, and his tail to shoot.

Yttrius was not invulnerable, of course. He swung just a little too far to the left, and a dead zergling was able to hit him with enough momentum to throw him off-balance. Another one leapt and brought it's jaws down on his arm with a crunch, piercing the metal before Yttrius impaled it. Casa was tired again after throwing back three zerglings, and tried to hit one of the four remaining zerglings with her stick. The stick broke on impact, as the zergling lunged, but it suddenly was halted in the air, a strike that should have torn Casa apart only scratching her across the chest. Dehaka tossed his head to the side, smashing the zergling lifeless against the rocky wall. Three left, and Yttrius aggressively engaged them, his blades greatly different to the softhead rounds they'd adapted to. One was instantly cut in half lengthways, and another skewered, while Dehaka overpowered the last.

Casa sat down, looking at her injuries. Two gashes in a sideways V across her stomach. They were bleeding nastily. "Um, mister Yttrius..."

Yttrius looked at Casa in concern "Those wounds are superficial, but prone to infection... I know basic Terran medical procedures. You also appear to be in shock. We must visit the settlement at once."

Dehaka was swallowing the carcass of a zergling. "Good essence... The settlement is not allied to you. They would open fire on any of us from afar."

"I cannot allow my charge to die. It is a violation of my honour to fail in a task. I do not see anywhere else we can obtain suitable supplies."

"You are correct. There is nowhere else. But, I understand the concept of a symbiotic relationship. I will steal the items you require. What are they?" Said Dehaka.

"I require enough pure ethanol to clean the wounds, and 50 centimetres of clean adhesive bandages. I will escort Casa to the Behemoth while you obtain these. I am choosing to trust you. Do not betray me."

* * *

The settlement was protected by a chain-link fence, of all things. Every resident had an illegal weapon, after all. Dehaka just tunneled underneath. Now the problem was working out which building would have medical supplies. Dehaka rested in the soil for a few moments before an answer struck. The waste. Different buildings would have different waste outside. So, Dehaka tunneled behind a building, and looked in the bins. Food. No. Repeat. Fur- no, hair trimmings. No. Repeat. Plastic wrappers. No. And... there were only three important-looking buildings. Dehaka growled in annoyance. How did these idiots heal themselves then? Terrans couldn't use essence! It was time to gather intel.

Dehaka rested just a few centimetres from the surface, in the settlement's main street. He listened to conversations, even as the honestly comfortable soil tried to dull them out. Dehaka waited. He overheard a lot about subjects that he had no interest in, like drinking, and how cheap the guns were here. And then, the conversation he was looking for.

"Woah there Brahms, that hydra got you good huh? Come on, the medbot will heal you right up." Dehaka carefully trailed them underground, waiting until they stopped.

"Ach, good as new. C'mon Slinger, that vodka ain't gonna drink itself."

The healing source had to be here. Dehaka warily emerged, checking around to make sure he wasn't spotted. He looked up. There was one of those devices... an adjutant, attached to parts of a medic suit. It must have been automated. Dehaka checked again, before slitting the wires connecting it to the floor. The adjutant itself was held up by a stick, so Dehaka wasn't worried about his next move.

Years later, people in the pirate dealership still told tales of the time a zerg jumped from the ground, ripped their adjutant off it's resting place, and went back under, taking nothing else. Then they'd laugh and sell some overpriced alcohol.

* * *

Yttrius carried Casa back to the Behemoth swiftly, as the shock began to wear off. On one hand this meant Casa probably wouldn't have a heart attack, but she was seven and the pain was immense. It was lucky the cuts weren't poisoned. Still, as absurdly strong-minded as she was, she couldn't help but whimper with each footstep Yttrius took.

Yttrius was in contact with Talandar. "Leader, have we yet managed to contact Valerian? My charge has suffered wounds, and while they alone will not be fatal the Behemoth is not a safe environment. I have been forced to rely on the zerg to find a suitable healing source."

"I see. Valerian responded earlier today, and has great concern for the Terran's life. As it turns out, seven is extremely young for a Terran. Some cannot even read by that age. None can fight. This one is indeed exceptional."

"It does explain their mannerisms. I will attempt to arrange a stop at a requested world. Bear in mind it will be easier if you pick one with natural wildlife. En taro Tassadar."

"En taro Tassadar."

Yttrius reached the Behemoth, and waited with growing concern.

Eventually, Dehaka emerged. He had... "What in the name of Adun is _that?"_ Asked Yttrius.

"Healing device. You can activate it." Dehaka explained, placing the abused medi-adjutant in between them.

Yttrius looked over the robot. The power wires had been cut off at the base, but there were no other necessary parts if you just wanted to activate an adjutant. But they used regular electricity... It was time to get creative. "I will require a moment. And a baneling." Yttrius said after considering his options.

First, he disconnected his left arm. The armor would buckle if he took another hit there anyway. "Dehaka. I require you carefully remove the casing of my arm. The shields are down." Dehaka cut away the outer layer, revealing the circuitry underneath. Most was eons ahead of the adjutant. But only one bit mattered. The platinum from the motor cores. Yttrius clinically removed the soft grey metal, and then held a lump to the end of each wire on the adjutant. He slid out his solarite blade and pressed the edge against the two metals, heating them enough to meld them together. He repeated the process for the other wire with the rest of the platinum. "Dehaka. I require two containers, one must be capable of containing baneling acid."

"The Baneling shell will work."

"Then I must ask you to kill the baneling, but do not damage the shell. In fact, I'll need two shells. One must be filled with water."

Dehaka chittered, and a second baneling appeared. He grabbed one and quickly drove a claw through the head, before it could resist. It was a good thing the lesser zerg were stupidly obedient. Dehaka did the same to the next, the claw sliding into a small chink in the armour. He scored the outside of this one's shell, making a tiny slit. He then carefully emptied it onto the floor, leaving the empty body. "There is water inside. I will bring some."

"Good." Yttrius proceeded with the last part of his plan. He manually gripped the blade of his dismantled arm, and poked two small holes in the acid-filled baneling. The blade corroded quickly and some acid dripped out, but it would work. He finally disconnected one of the thicker wires in his arm, and inserted it into the first hole. He put one of the platinum electrodes into the other, and was pleased to see it didn't dissolve.

Dehaka returned, carrying the baneling filled with water. Yttrius took it, and added some more chemicals from his arm. A bit of lithium. He put the platinum and the bridge wire into the baneling, and the cell was complete. The adjutant actually came online.

"Greetings. Travelers. Do you. Require any. Thing?" It stuttered.

"My companion requires medical attention." Said Yttrius.

"Please insert. Coin."

Yttrius glared at the Medi-adjutant. "I do not have time for this... Override, authority code P-80995."

"Granted." The adjutant extended part of the medic's suit in Casa's general direction, and it weakly glowed with some light. Casa's cuts closed in just a few moments.

Casa looked at the wounds sealing "Woah... It's like magic."

Dehaka regarded Yttrius "I am impressed."

"My thanks. I was worried you would think less of me, for weakening myself." Replied Yttrius.

Dehaka shook his head "Power is a trap, even to the experienced. There is no shame in lacking it. It forces the mind to sharpen. And I know that the Protoss value duty and sacrifice. You do both well."

"That means a lot to me. Now, we ought to move this into the Behemoth. It will save us the trouble of setting up a second one should Casa injure herself." Yttrius gestured to the idle adjutant.

* * *

It had been simple enough to move the Medi-adjutant to a more permanent home in Casa's chamber. Dawn was breaking over the planet as the Behemoth lifted into space.

Dehaka had retired to his chamber to rest, when there was a drumming sound on the membrane. Dehaka leapt to alertness, carefully listening. Short, light breaths. It was Casa. He opened the membrane, revealing the girl. Something was a little off about her eyes. They were puffy. "Do you require me?" Dehaka asked.

"Had a bad dream..." Casa mumbled.

Dehaka didn't know what that was, even if it was clearly a problem. "I think Yttrius is better at caring for Terrans."

"But... he's metal. He's not any good. He's a person, but he doesn't feel alive... I'm scared." Said Casa.

Dehaka looked at the girl. "Of what?"

"I dreamed I was dying... I saw myself getting hurt. I can't sleep."

"Rest is important. I will assist you. What should I do?"

"...Can I hold onto you? My mom... and my dad would just hold me if I had a bad dream."

"Yes. I have seen this trait before. I know what I must do. Rest by my side. You will be safe."

Casa slowly walked over, and sat against Dehaka. Dehaka remembered what a lot of other animals would do to calm scared young, and slowly curled his body around Casa, moving his tail to cover her. He shifted his upper torso to lie on the floor, giving Casa room to rest her head against his shoulder. Casa huddled in closely. It was no motherly hug, but the warmth of another large and protective body was a great comfort.

"I... miss my mom. Even though she's boring." Casa said in a tiny voice.

"I will not pretend to understand. You should rest now. It is vital to Terrans." Dehaka replied quietly.

Casa closed her eyes. Dehaka's smell was awful by any standards, a mix of many different animals and grime that had never been washed away, but Casa quickly found herself getting used to it. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, unhindered by nightmares.

* * *

Dehaka awoke five hours later. His sleep cycle was fairly short, a five hour rest able to fully heal him of most types of injury. Casa was still asleep against his shoulder. How long was a Terran sleep cycle? She wouldn't be awake for a while. Dehaka carefully unwrapped himself, lowering Casa to the floor.

Yttrius was waiting outside "Dehaka. I must make a request regarding our next destination."

"Speak. There is much to hunt."

"I have been in contact with Talandar. You may remember him as our leader from the End War. Apparently, Casa is of extreme importance to the Terrans, and they wish to discuss her fate with me." Yttrius explained.

Dehaka glanced back at his chamber. "I have begun to see potential in the girl. She is not mature, but... she could rival the power of the queen of blades once she has grown. She will become a powerful psionic- a trap or a blessing, depending on her decisions. I would not toss her away. She has value as a part of this pack."

"You almost seem to have grown fond of her. I ought explain in more detail. The emperor of the Terrans, Valerian, believes the girl is unlikely to survive this environment for long. She will not grow if dead."

"Or sheltered."

"True. But aside from that, her family is the most powerful group of renegade Terrans there has ever been. Favour with them is worth a lot."

Dehaka growled in frustration. "I have no need of anything but essence. All things are paths to essence. Not all things will grant equal essence. I do not seek to greatly expand my pack, because I have no need of power. I am certain that Casa holds the path to more essence than many thousands of Terrans could gather in a lifespan. But... we should still meet with the Terrans. I will not blindly trust Casa to grow healthily."

Yttrius gave a small, awkward bow thanks to his missing arm. "You never did answer my question. Have you grown fond of her? What does she mean to you?"

"She is something I have not seen for many ages. A new way to approach the unending hunt. I do not feel as you do. Though... the prospect of her potential, and what it may bring... I like that. So. Where must we meet the Terrans?"

 **Author's notes: Well, this chapter came out easily. A bit of character development here and there. Fun fact: I based the main trio off DnD alignments, as a neutral team. Yttrius is Lawful Neutral, Dehaka True Neutral, and Casa is Chaotic Neutral.**

 **Mpopl2: Casa is a curious girl who's been dying to explore more than her home town for seven years. She also hasn't learned what to really fear yet, thanks to Nova's sheltering. And it helps that she's really brave.**

 **Guest and Arachnodon: Continue I will.**


	4. Chapter 4: The agreement

**Forenote: At 11pm, I had my first redbull ever. It it currently 4am and I feel unstoppable. I'm literally vibrating. I just wanna shoot lasers from my mouth.**

The Behemoth floated in orbit over the world of Poseidon XX. Poseidon XX was a world of very useful positioning, near both Terran and Protoss colonies, but far enough from the major worlds of each that it could serve as a meeting place for inherently dangerous groups. Also, it's surface had over a 95% water coverage, rendering it completely impractical for major military operations. The perfect meeting place for Dehaka. Of course, he was still wary of traps. If Casa meant something to the Terrans, then it would be logical for some groups to try and simply take her. Yttrius had been allowed into the nerve centre, to explain the meeting setup below.

"Both representatives from the Dominion and the Daelaam will be present. I have files on each. Also, intel from my fellow protoss indicate the Terrans have many concealed security forces. Their orders are to protect the speaker, and their devotion borders that of our own zealots. The speaker is clearly of importance." Yttrius explained.

Dehaka looked down at the small island as the Behemoth entered the atmosphere. "Then we should capture them if they betray us. They will have greater value alive. Also, what can you tell me of your speaker. It may mean the difference between a wasteful battle and additional allies."

"Our diplomat volunteered personally upon learning of the meeting. He is revered within our society: High smith Karax. It is a great honour for one such as myself to meet him in person. His guards will be kept secret, lest you betray us. But they will not fail to protect him. Neither will I."

Casa tapped Yttrius on the side "Mr Yttrius? How can you protect people without your arm?"

Yttrius might have grimaced, had he a face "With my life, Casa. Perhaps in time you will know that devotion."

"I am readying some forces. Casa, listen well. Remain here until it is known whether there is any threat to you. Should you be attacked, by pack will come to your defence. I will summon you if the time is right." Said Dehaka.

Casa made a face "But that's boring..."

"I am beginning to understand how you use that term. I suggest you try and find something to interact with." Said Dehaka.

* * *

Dehaka exited the Behemoth carefully. He'd disabled the gas veil as a sign of trust, but caution was not a likely cause of death. The island's facilities were relatively neutral. A large, simple Terran building designed to house a bunch of rowdy mercenaries. A standard Protoss nexus. Nothing more. Two zealots and four marines were waiting outside. "This way. Ain't got all day." Said a marine, pointing to the large building.

Dehaka and Yttrius followed the group into the Terran facility. Yttrius held the back of his hand in front of Dehaka. A message was projected on it. 'Many ghosts. Orders to shoot if we act aggressively.'

Dehaka wasn't sure how to acknowledge this, but flicked his eyes over the room, and carefully smelled it. Five extra smells. Two female. Three male. Four on their left. One ahead. Very little clutter, guaranteeing clear shots. They definately didn't trust him. And they were not ghosts. They smelled of... mirrazine, was it called?

A pair of doors opened, and two more people entered the main room. Dehaka recognised the protoss immediately as Karax, and focused on the Terran. Green jacket, black hair, male, varied medals. So an ex-commander at least. Likely more important.

Yttruis bowed. "En taro Adun, Karax, Admiral."

"En taro Adun, Yttrius." Replied Karax lightly.

"En taro Adun. I am aware your group does not have time to waste, so I'll get down to business. My name is Matthew Horner. Is it true that you have an adolescent Terran travelling with you?" Matthew asked.

Dehaka took his turn to speak "Yes. She hid within my vessel. Now she travels with me, helping to gather essence in exchange for seeing more of the universe."

"Hmm..." Said Horner. "We must have her back, for her own safety. Her survival to this point in such an environment borders on the absurd. I'll skip the monologue: What do you want in exchange for her?"

Dehaka shook his head "Her worth... impossible to quantify. She has more potential than any larva. Psionics that already match her mother's."

Karax was concerned at this "You truly believe she has that much potential? Admiral, I... believe we may have a very difficult time convincing him to hand her over. You would likely compare it to trying to move a mountain with your hands. No offense, Dehaka."

Horner narrowed his eyes "Hold on. Psionics that match her mother? Who exactly is that? How powerful is this child?"

"She is the spawn of Nova. Capable of telekinesis, and cloaking. I am no psionic expert, but, this is quite exceptional?"

Horner swallowed "By god... Seven and consciously capable of telekinesis. I've never been more thankful Arcturus is dead. And the child of the most wanted woman in the sector..."

Yttrius raised his hand to speak. "Karax. Does the Daelaam have any standing on this matter?"

Karax had the feeling he'd been dropped into a conversation that was full of bombs he had to defuse. One wrong answer and... "Officially, no, but hierarch Artanis has been clear that above all else, we must avoid falling back into conflict unless there is no other choice. So, I believe in turn that to best avoid conflict... we should allow the girl- Casa- to remain with Dehaka, if he can provide an adequate upbringing. I have worked with Nova in the past, during the end war, and if she decides to move to recover her daughter then she will readily and easily sacrifice the peace to do so. And information spreads like creep: once there's a source, it won't go away for a long time. The only way I see for her to remain unfound is with Dehaka."

Matthew frowned "Mm. And Valerian wholeheartedly agrees with avoiding war, as do I. Yet at the same time... I don't want to lose a prodigy. But at the very least, I will not allow her to be actively used as bait for her mother. Perhaps her being missing will passively draw her from hiding, but ultimately, I want to make a choice for the good of everyone. So... I think I need to meet her, and assess her condition. Where is she now?"

Dehaka curled his tail in apprehension. If there was a trap, this was it. Logically, if you were to walk into a trap you would disarm it first. "I will tell you... but first, reveal your security. I will not act foolishly." He was aware they could simply open fire now. He could probably take two or three psionic sniper rounds to the head, but five would be pushing it. Thankfully, the floor was a soft aluminium and by moving as soon as as he heard anything wrong, he could probably dodge at least three by diving into the earth.

Matthew was quiet for a moment. "I see you're aware of my bodyguards, then. Tosh, your units can come out. I think it's up to us to make the first gesture of trust."

Five spectres shimmered into view. Each was equipped with a heavy sniper rifle, and carried ornate talismans and trinkets of wide variety. Tosh was in the centre, smiling in his offhanded way. "Well, it seems the game is up, brothers and sisters. Matthew, I hope you be making the right call, trusting a zerg."

Admiral Horner concealed his nervousness and uncertainty amazingly well. The only other one in the room who knew of it was Tosh. "I would lay down my life for my cause. I presume you want me to come alone, Dehaka?"

"Karax may join you. He has some merit as trustworthy. Now, you follow." Dehaka turned and walked from the room.

Karax shrugged "He's very objective-minded. It's part of why he survived for so long. Come on. We had best not not keep him waiting."

* * *

"Casa. Show yourself. I smell you are near." Dehaka stood at the entrance to the Behemoth, Karax and Matthew behind him.

Casa appeared by the opening. "Who are they?" The two cuts in her ghost suit and grime on her face were all too visible, but the medi-adjutant had done a flawless job repairing her body, and she was clearly full of energy and in good health.

"I am admiral Matthew Horner. I'd like to ask some questions, okay?" Matt did his best not to intimidate Casa, not knowing she had been trying to wrestle a zergling into submission _for fun_ two minutes ago. (Well, she didn't have enough strength to even move it, so it didn't take her as a threat)

"Yep! But... who is that, Dehaka?" Casa said cheerfully, pointing at Karax.

Yttrius responded first "This is High smith Karax, one of the most important protoss alive. He is a master of toolmaking and design, and oversees the reconstruction of our great homeworld."

Horner looked at Casa carefully. "How safe do you feel with Dehaka and Yttrius?"

Casa beamed "They comfort me when I get scared! But... I think they're too safe sometimes. Yttrius didn't even want me to try and touch the zerglings!"

"I see. And what exactly do you eat and drink here?"

"There's this great big resevoir of water! And I eat meat!" Said Casa, putting her hands on her hips.

"Erm... okay. And when did you last have a wash, or brush your teeth?"

"..." Casa was suddenly withdrawn.

Matthew sighed "I swear that every seven year old in existence gives the exact same answer to that one. It's been days, hasn't it?"

"...yeah."

"Okay, I need to know some things from both of you protoss. Firstly, how soon can Yttrius have his arm repaired?" Matthew had quickly lined up a few important factors in his head.

Karax looked at the socket on Yttrius' torso. "I brought a replacement, and since his body is undamaged it'll be under a minute."

"Good. Next, how quickly can you manufacture a weapon suitable for Casa?"

"Well, assuming she has as much psionic power as I sense, a simple focusing tool would be a powerful instrument. Maybe half an hour?"

"And lastly, do I have the necessary authority to ask Yttrius to remain as her bodyguard?"

"No. However, I do, and I agree that he fills the role well."

Matthew turned back to Casa. "Right, I would normally consider this unthinkable... but it's somehow your safest option. You will be staying with Dehaka until your mother can be apprehended. I am trusting you to take care of yourself as much as possible, and that isn't something I would trust my own daughter to do. But before you go, together I and Karax will give you all the aid we can without raising suspicions." He turned to Dehaka "And, as for you. I know you have every intention to protect her, but please remember that Terrans also must be cared for emotionally. Yttrius can obviously do this too, but there will be situations he cannot help in, just as there will be situations you are helpless in." And finally, he turned to Yttrius "I'm sorry for giving you so much work. You're more than a machine, and I need you to handle her education and guide her to avoid her taking on the mentality of a zerg. It's probably the most difficult challenge. But, know that if there is ever anything I can do to return the deed, you only have to ask. Now, everyone. Do you know what to do?"

There was a collective "Yes"

* * *

Dehaka had nothing to do while on the island. There were no indegenous species on this planet but aquatic lifeforms, and he'd devolved his gills and webbed feet to make his atmospheric pressure resistance work. He wouldn't drown, since you needed to be reliant on breathing for that, but it would take days to climb back up from the depths once the oceans chilled his body and water filled his voice sac. Ultimately, he decided to talk to Karax again. The smith could at least offer advice. He sat on his haunches as Karax assembled a small golden gun. "I wish to talk, Karax."

"Speak your mind. Though there are things I must ask you, too." Karax didn't even slow down his work as he spoke.

"I desire to know more about the events after we crashed together." This was far from Dehaka's true intentions. He really wanted to know if he could secure another ally, another source of information, and thus essence. Establishing trust was the first step to any good alliance.

Karax nodded, seamlessly joining a handguard to his work. "After you departed, a small Terran extermination force arrived. I had to explain that you had no intention to conquer any worlds, and that they were several hours too late. They were honestly relieved. The extermination force would have struggled against a few drones. Later, I was able to construct a good communicator with the help of Probius, and I used that to contact Artanis. Now, I would like to know why you left without any warning. I understand you had no desire to remain on that planet, but surely you would have had some concern for us?"

"I am Zerg. I do not feel emotion for the reasons you feel emotion. I was certain you would survive, and that is enough. However... I am considering evolving Terran emotions as a lesser mentality. They will have much greater use in drawing out the potential of Casa." Said Dehaka.

Karax was surprised "I recommend you do. Have you ever done that before?"

"I have been a skydwelling, and waterdwelling Zerg before. With a major change, your mentality must also change."

"Oh? Flight seems like a large advantage. Why would you give it up?" Asked Karax.

"Too fragile. Wings punctured easily by Hydralisks, and vulnerable in fights."

* * *

Casa had found Tosh."Hey, you're like me!" She called.

Tosh slowly turned, his suit flashing red with terrazine. "Hmm, the ghost's daughter... I ain't seen that kind of power in a long time. Take this, small one. It will keep your power focused." He went to his wrist, untying a thin leather cord with an ivory disc threaded longways through it, just one of his dozens of fragments of superstition. One side of the disc had a bullet carved into it, and the other a skull. He carefully handed it to Casa. "I know you would be a great specter girl, but I can't just betray Horner that easily. After all, he's the one giving me hope. Maybe some day, though."

Casa had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but she loved her new bracelet. It tucked neatly under her gauntlet, out of harm's way.

* * *

Matthew was tearing apart his luggage for things that Casa could need. He found a medical kit with a needle and thread that could hopefully fix her hostile environment suit somewhat until she grew out of it. His spare toothbrush. Coins that might survive in a Behemoth. Paracetamol. A military-grade stun grenade. All quite useful. Wait, could anyone here even sew? Casa couldn't just be left with her stomach exposed, she'd catch a cold. He heard someone enter the room behind him, and spun around to face Yttrius. "Oh, scared me there. Anything you need?"

"No. However, I have come to ask if you have any kind of armour suitable for Casa. Her suit has been irreparably damaged." Yttrius said.

Matthew shook his head "The closest I have here is a needle and thread for surgery. It could hold the suit shut, but it wouldn't last long and it wouldn't be water or air tight. If I'd known, I'd have had a replacement made."

"That would be unwise. If knowledge of the request leaked, it would compromise us. Though your willingness to assist is appreciated. Your warriors must adore you."

"I did my best, and they liked me enough. But I couldn't really inspire them like Raynor did. But thank you for the compliment. Your own dedication to service is an example to all of us." Matt had gone from startled to totally composed in under a second.

"My thanks. But I had best stay on guard. Casa has a way of finding trouble faster than a scan."

* * *

The Behemoth was lifting off from Poseidon XX within the hour. Casa was basking in all her new toys. Karax's psionic focus/death ray was her favourite so far, hence Yttrius confiscating it before she tried using it indoors.

Dehaka was monitoring the radio bug. If Nova was on the move, maybe that Kate Terran would find out. 'Emperor Valerian raises legal requirements for military service, begins public shutdown of ghost program', 'Mysterious attacks on Dominion intelligence facilities', and 'Pirate activity surging' were the dominant three headlines. One was a glaringly bad sign. "Yttrius. Do Dominion intelligence know of Casa?"

"No. However, they do know of our whereabouts. We must hope that Nova is not out for vengeance." Yttrius responded.

"Then, we are moving on to another world. Essence must be gathered. I must evolve further." Said Dehaka. "I also require some Terran essence, so we will move for a pirate world."

Yttrius would have looked at Dehaka in suspicion if he had been less professional. "Bear in mind the agreement. Do not engage in illegal activity, and allow me to confirm the sentence before you pass it."

Dehaka's tail twitched. "I have seen that treaty. Does not cover Primal Zerg. And pirates will not be missed."

"Hm? Oh, yes, I forgot the commaders were there when it was signed. I was thinking more that we should be careful not to strike anywhere that isn't pirate. You will wait for me to confirm your target is a serious lawbreaker. Now, I must test my new arm. I will leave now." Yttrius finished.

Casa tugged Dehaka's tail. "Will you play a game with me? That planet was boring..."

Dehaka would have sighed if he were Terran. But Matthew's words stuck in his mind, and he understood that Casa would need to be cared for in mind. Yet at the same time, she would need hardship to realise her potential. "I can think of one... I am sure I have heard the term 'play fighting' from Terrans."

"That sounds fun! What is it?!" Said Casa.

"You will fight me. But, we will not land killing blows. Perhaps we should ask Yttrius to join... you, follow." Said Dehaka, leaving the room.

* * *

Matthew Horner looked at the bottle of liquor in his hand. A gift from the missing James Raynor, a long time ago. It had remained in his ship's storage for that long time, but after today, he needed a drink.

"Whatcha' drinking for Matt? Not like you." Said the Marine from earlier.

Tosh grinned "He be drinkin' to forget"

"Open book, huh?" Said Matt, still a little sober, but not enough to remember Tosh liked to read minds. "Must need more."

"What's he drinking to forget, Tosh bud?" Asked the marine.

"That he left a seven year old in the care of the zerg... By choice."

Matt was no longer pouring glasses, but attempting to just chug the whole bottle.

* * *

Yttrius looked at Dehaka in disbelief "Are you sure?! She is more fragile than you may appreciate!"

Casa put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest "I am NOT fragile!"

"This will be a good lesson. Besides, learning is important. Especially learning to fight." Challenged Dehaka.

Yttrius badly wanted to protest, but didn't. Casa would likely need to know how to fight. "Very well. Be careful to inflict no wounds. Fighters, stand in position. Victory is awarded when one side concedes or immobilizes the foe"

Casa put up her fists. Dehaka crouched, making calculations in his head. His aim was to do no lasting damage. Casa couldn't feasibly hurt him.

"Begin!"

Dehaka pounced. In an actual attack, he would have ripped out Casa's throat at this range. He instead made a slow claw swipe at her arm. Casa jumped back, and punched him in the face. Well, she tried to, but Dehaka opened his mouth. Casa fell over forwards from her own momentum, the punch hitting Dehaka in the tongue. Dehaka opted not to stick it to her, and placed an arm on her back. "She needs a weapon." he said.

"Noted" Said Yttrius. "Although, none are available now."

Dehaka let Casa off the floor. "I have an idea. Hold on." He fired his tail at the wall, the spine sticking in. He walked over and ripped out the sharp bone. It was at least thirty centimetres in length, and would regrow in a minute. He focused on the wider end of the projectile. It was a bulky spine, overall. A triangular blade with a small bone handle. A terrible melee weapon that would dull quickly and was too short to be effective. But the handle might let Casa grip it. "Casa. hold this."

Casa immediately tried to grab the sharp part and cut her hand. "Ow!" Then she grabbed the base, ignoring her bleeding. "Can I keep this?"

Yttrius strode forwards "You're getting healed first!"

A minute later Casa was facing Dehaka with her dagger.

"Begin!"

Dehaka lunged, and Casa rolled to the side, much to his surprise. She learned fast. She ducked as he made a quick swipe for her, and completely missed his entire side with her thrust. Dehaka bent over and picked her up with his mouth, using her suit as a handle. "Better." He said, dropping her. "Again."

Matches continued. Yttrius occasionally fought, but was ultimately too worried by his duty to actively fight his charge. Meanwhile, Dehaka kept training Casa, moving with a sharp learning curve. Most adults would have been left in the dust. By the end of the hour, Casa's suit was covered in tiny grazes from false attacks, but she was immensely better at fighting. Not just with the dagger, but in general. She was slowly beginning to learn how some attacks would move, like claws and bites. Of course, Dehaka was holding back harder than he had ever before. Even then, there were a few times when he nearly sent a swipe too hard, or too far. And the time he nearly opted to just stab her. In a strange way, this was harder than regular fighting. He couldn't use half his weapons.

Casa dramatically let herself fall over backwards. "I'm tired..."

"Then we will stop. Rest, Casa." Said Dehaka, leaving the room.

"W-wait, don't go! Um, Yttrius, you won't go, right?" Casa said, seeing Dehaka had already left.

"Of course not. My dedication is absolute. Do you require anything?" Asked Yttrius.

Casa sat up. "I'm hungry. What's for dinner?"

"We have water, and mineral reduction. All you need to survive."

Casa laid back down. "I want chicken..."

"We do not have chicken."

Casa made a scrunched-up face.

 **Author's notes: And I finished this a few days later, because I couldn't remember what I thought of while I was hopped up on Redbull. Such is life. I'm developing a good plotline that should come into play soon.**


	5. Chapter 5: a harsh lesson

The Dominion intelligence network, DIN, had their headquarters deep under the deserts of Korhal. The whole planet was already fortified beyond belief, But the scorching desert meant the only place more secure was Valerian's palace.

Nova was infiltrating with ease. She had had her access codes revoked once she went against orders and fled, but she'd been setting up the means to infiltrate ever since, as a just-in-case. Power going to the facility's detection was cut by 75% by a remotely activated device. The equipment would not appear offline, but it was useless. Nova's dropship performed the injection manoeuvre, a jump to extremely precise co-ordinates for under a second. The move took days to plot. And the results were two normal ghosts and Nova herself outside the base's entrance. One ghost remained outside. Nova and the second backup went in, cloaks able to withstand the weakened detection.

Nova made a beeline for the computer room. Five admins were inside. Nova recognised two of them. One was, for lack of a better term: a douche. The four regular admins were knocked unconscious by quick thumb jabs to the neck. The douche was also jabbed, but Nova smiled involuntarily as she made sure he fell into his hot coffee, a few suppressed memories mixing with normal ones. The assistant ghost carefully shut the door and cocked his rifle. Nova was already halfway through an emergency override of the computer security protocols. Not wanting to waste time filtering through dozens of irrelevant files, once it was at a safe part of the procedure she simply ripped out the hard drive. It was probably backed up, anyway. She tapped a button on her display, initiating recall. Not as good as a protoss mass recall, but enough to get her and the assistant to the beacon the earlier ghost was carrying.

The earlier ghost in turn activated a second beacon, recalling all three to Nova's ship. Mission Complete.

* * *

"Reigel. Have you found anything?" Said Nova, walking onto the ship's bridge.

Reigel gave a small chuckle. "It's been one minute, November. But yes, I have found everything. Some junior marine who doesn't understand how secrecy works recorded a highly confidential meeting. Probably trying to be helpful. Take a look."

Nova scanned the file. Poseidon XX... Matthew Horner... Karax... emergency meeting with Zerg... Child in unsuitable environment...

"An interesting preliminary. What were the results?" Said Nova.

Reigel tapped in a few strings of code. A new screen appeared. Nova looked over the conclusion.

'The child is known as Casa (age 7, birth date unknown), and claims to be the daughter of Nova. Her high psionic index (estimated 8) suggests this is true. She appears to have fled her home in order to explore space, by sneaking aboard the Behemoth of Dehaka. Upon questioning, Dehaka refused to return her to the dominion as she had too much potential, and Matthew Horner made an executive decision to allow her to remain with him so as not to attract unwanted attention from Nova. Karax concurred, but both made sure Casa had suitable living conditions and armaments before departure. She currently travels on board Dehaka's behemoth (Zerg, class Transit-02) with Dehaka and Purifer unit 80995, Yttrius.'

"We have a target. Can you track them?' Said Nova.

"It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. But the needle is our daughter, so we're willing to burn the haystack to find the needle. Give me an hour and some coffee." Replied Reigel.

* * *

The behemoth touched down on Perseus IV. Perseus IV was best described as an active example of communism going wrong. It had been a modestly successful civilian world until the middle class incited an uprising against the rich using the poor, for equality of course, and then all the people the uprising was aimed at just left, taking the ships with them, leaving the now angry, armed and trapped lower class to start a ten-year crusade on everyone else. The result lead to a petition to just rename the world 'Hell'. Everyone on it was either a murderer or destined to become one. A perfect choice for what was needed.

Dehaka was lurking below ground. This area might have once been a city, but it illustrated the difference between the carefully planned and well-informed revolts Raynor once led and the revolts started by a few twenty-something year olds who thought they knew everything. Every building was a husk, windows smashed, torched. The whole place was far more dead than when Arcturus had ruled the dominion. Dehaka felt vibrations in the ground. A vulture... three vultures. Coming from the left. Almost certainly bandits. Dehaka tensed, as the engines drew nearer.

Wesson Hart, scourge of the city, was a toughened bandit lord. It was a popular planetary myth that he was able to kill a man by looking at them too hard. He had stared death in the face and spat at it. But even he had a moment of sheer terror as his Vulture was slammed from below with enough force to break it in half. His two lackeys saw, for one breif moment, a large black thing surge from the ground and drag Wesson down with it. It later became a myth that Wesson had been summoned to hell itself. Most of the people on the planet believed it.

Dehaka was finishing with the former bandit, surprised at the lack of loyalty his allies had. Evolving a secondary mindset was a finicky thing, since the primal nature was one of the strongest traits in Dehaka, and it didn't like competition. Dehaka forced his brain to develop slight additions, just enough to know what emotion a terran would feel at a given time. Added numerical capacity was nice too.

New emotion appered faintly. Not to full Terran standards, of course. Their mindset often constrained their actions, and Dehaka would rather have lost an arm than shackle himself to an overarching set of rules. Dehaka could feel a trace of satisfaction at his kill, and a little concern for Casa and his behemoth. Quiet, but present. Good.

* * *

Karax was adding the next set of upgrades to Probius. The probe had initially been a normal model, but after the first battle for Auir, where it was nearly torn apart by the Zerg after warping in that first, critical pylon, Karax had made it his personal project, a next-generation probe. It was already exhibiting advanced intelligence, and was essentially his retainer.

A door opened, and Talandar stepped into the forge. "En taro Tassadar, Karax. How are your new upgrades progressing?"

Karax clipped a second lens over Probius's eye. "En taro Tassadar. Quite well. While my small friend is still undergoing research, his power output has nearly doubled."

"I meant Yttrius' new arm. I understand that you enhanced it with several new features not normally granted to my warriors." Clarified Talandar.

Karax nodded "It's a prototype of a more utility based setup. While normal purifiers are based on zealots, their mechanical bodies open new realms of possibility. While this arm still has a blade, the blade draws less power in exchange for a reverse warp charge. It can allow a shockwave to be discharged to blow foes back, useful against numbers."

"I see. I hope it is safely tested? My kind are not disposable."

"Do not worry. If anything, it's too safe. It will shut down if it senses any irregularity in power."

"Useful..."

"By the way, do you have any information regarding The Group?"

"They are hunting down bandits. Yttrius is performing well, though I worry he is too formal. He may give the impression we truly are just machines if he takes his personality too far."

"I would have thought you would praise his dedication."

"I do. But the most dedicated of warriors need to have a reason for their dedication. Yttrius would do well to remember his reason."

* * *

Casa was watching Yttrius in combat. The bandits had attacked them out of nowhere, and Casa had responded with her psionic focus. As it turned out, it projected her telekinesis forward in a concentrated beam, moving anything hit away. The first bandit was tossed away like a ragdoll, and the other four opened fire. Shotgun shells were remarkably ineffective against Yttrius, who acted to remove the threat as directly as possible. One, two, three. Both the number of cuts Yttrius made and the number of enemies he felled. The fourth bandit, realising this was a bad fight to pick, desperately tried to get something done in his final moments and lunged for Casa with a long knife. He was shot in the face by the force ray, resulting in a messy end.

Casa looked at the carnage "Mr Yttrius... why did we fight them?"

Yttrius scanned the surrounding area. No other bandits. "No race is without evil. But even if they were not, they wished us dead. When someone wants to kill you in a fight, then you must fight back, or die. We fought back."

Casa looked at the mess of a man who she'd shot. "But... It's so scary. How do you still fight?"

"It... stops being scary once you have done it twice. Let me tell you a story, of a protoss called Raqeul. Raquel was an ambitious warrior, who trained every day so that he could protect our homeworld, Auir. But he never once harmed a fellow protoss, for all the world lived in harmony. But then... He went to fight, against the dark templar. And upon his first kill, he was so shocked with himself that he was immobilized. He was never the same. His second kill scared him too. But he was able to steel himself. And his third... he felt nothing but sorrow at."

"The Dark templar sound scary..."

"They are our allies now. Our heirarch forged a lasting alliance that allowed us to begin to leave the wars of our past behind."

* * *

The trio were onboard the Behemoth within the hour, lifting away from Perseus IV. Yttrius went to check on the Medi-adjutant. Casa stared at Dehaka's back as he gave orders to the ship. "Dehaka?"

"Yes...?" He replied. Casa could have sworn there was something slightly different in his tone now.

She continued with her question anyway. "Why don't you wear clothes?"

"They serve no purpose." Answered Dehaka.

"But then why do I wear clothes?"

"Your body... fragile. Requires protection. Sensitive to temperature, to environment. Does not adapt. Does not change." Dehaka explained.

"Oh."

Dehaka turned his attention to his claws. They needed sharpening.

"Um..." Casa looked out of the front of the Behemoth.

Dehaka glanced back at her. "Speak. I listen."

"I... will you hold me? I... I..." Casa's voice wobbled. She started crying.

Dehaka felt a surge of parental protectivity from his newer sections of mind, and acted on it as best he could. He sat in front of Casa, carefully moving his tail behind her to encircle them. He felt oddly compelled to pick her up in his jaws and carry her somewhere safe, but doubted she would like that. "Are you hurt?"

"I... I killed someone, Dehaka!" Casa bawled.

Dehaka had no idea why that would be important. He'd killed -and eaten- other primals for two thousand years. "What of it?"

"What if they had family?!" Casa sobbed, falling forward into Dehaka's chest.

"That will not affect you. You survive. That is all that should worry you." Said Dehaka.

Casa kept crying into Dehaka. Yttrius came running into the room, blades out, but then relaxed when he saw Casa crying while Dehaka tried to comfort her a little. He nodded "She has never killed before, and was raised to see it as wrong. She also worries for those the death would affect. I believe it will pass."

Dehaka looked at the crying girl. "You must grow stronger. This will limit your potential. I will continue to train you. Come."

Dehaka stood, and simply picked up Casa like she weighed nothing, carrying her to the sparring chamber.

He set her down and lumbered to face her. "I will teach you. You must grow stronger in mind." Casa wasn't listening, still crying. "You may be sad, but that cannot weaken you." Casa was still crying. Dehaka decided it was time for her to learn. "Yttrius, stay back." he whispered. "I will not kill her".

He lunged, unrestrained. A load roar tearing from within him. Casa stopped crying in shock as Dehaka snapped his jaws around her waist and tipped his head back, painfully lifting her up, threatening to swallow her. She screamed as his fangs pierced her suit and grazed her skin. Dehaka stopped, and dropped her in front of him. He towered over the girl as she looked up at the primal zerg, feral and bloodthirsty.

"That is why you must not let yourself be weakened! Any other Zerg, and any other Terran or Protoss will not hesitate!" He roared at the child, rancid breath blowing over her.

Casa lay there in silenced shock. Utter terror written into her face. Dehaka could tell that for better or for worse... she would remember this lesson eternally, a fundamental law of nature.

He stopped attempting to intimidate her, and dropped his head down to the floor. "That is what you had to learn, sheltered Terran. It will mean the difference between life and death. Now, you should be healed." Dehaka picked her up again, inspecting his own bite marks. This suit really needed replacing...

"Was that too much, Yttrius?" Said Dehaka as the Medi-adjutant fixed the punctures in Casa's skin.

Yttrius regarded him. "Perhaps. But she had to learn. Hesitate and die. Be weak and die. Not all lessons are easy, especially in a harsh setting."

Casa was still silent.

"I believe you should sleep by her again. She will need some confirmation you still care about her." Said Yttrius.

* * *

Dehaka carried Casa to his chamber, setting her down and curling around her. "I will keep you safe. If you are scared, I do not mind answering questions. But, you should rest."

Casa tried to sleep. But it no longer all felt like a harmless game to her. In that moment, she'd had her illusions shattered for good. She was a seven year old who abandoned her family, and was stuck in a dangerous place. And even then... no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see Dehaka the same way. He was no longer a harmless protector. He was a wild, dangerous zerg that could easily kill her. His scent was no longer an odd, smelly mix. It was dried blood and anything else from inside animals, rotted flesh from kills.

"I..." Casa said her first words in three hours. "Have a question, Dehaka."

"Yes?"

"Can you hug me? And tell me you won't hurt me? I... want to feel safe." Said Casa.

Dehaka carefully uncurled, and left Casa standing. He drew her in with his larger arms, wrapping them, and then his smaller arms, and tail, and even moving his head and legs to almost completely cover Casa in a careful embrace. "I will not kill you. I cannot promise you will never be hurt. But I will make sure you are safe." He rumbled.

Casa let herself relax, and just a little, she felt safe. Dehaka was still her protector. He wouldn't kill her. He was only dangerous if he wanted to be. His smell... still oddly comforted her. She stood in the hug until her legs were tired, until she finally said "I'm... tired."

Dehaka let go, and returned to his curl around her. She fell asleep, slowly.

 **Author's notes: Well, that came out darker than expected. Guess I'll need to check my rating is at T.**

 **Mpopl2: here, have some more of him!**

 **Pt1oef: This is happening?**

 **Prometheus: Yep, here's a bit of my theorised backstory for him.**


	6. Chapter 6: A short homecoming

Nova's ship was cruising at warp speed. A system passed every few minutes. The ghost herself was preparing for a mission. Her fleet was really too small to be called a fleet, but the ghosts under her command had insisted. It was four ships of identical design to her own, with powerful cloaking capabilities. The plan was simple. Wait until the target landed, then pin them down with orbital fire while Nova moved in. Reigel normally handled the co-ordination of the fleet for things like this, but for this particular mission, he insisted on helping. A confrontation was overwhelmingly likely. He had prepared an orbital deployment pod, and was currently strapping into some heavily reinforced armour, suitable against pretty much everything. Nova counted through all this in her head. They were nearing the target.

* * *

Yttrius was the first to realise something was wrong. They were being pursued by cloaked enemies, and he knew this not because he could detect them, but because someone had just placed a wire tap on the police radio. "Khas, guide me." He mumbled, sprinting for the bridge.

Casa had been combat training against a zergling. Her naivety had been largely shattered, but had given rise to a fierce drive to survive. Her telekinesis rendered her foe helpless as she ducked under it and gave it an amplified punch in the chest. The zergling actually felt that, and looked at her with a many-toothed grin.

Casa didn't hesitate to punch again, but her arm was quickly growing sore. She dropped the zergling, which quickly ran off. Yttrius ran past the room. Casa had never seen him run on board the ship before. Something was wrong.

Yttrius burst into the nerve centre "Emergency! We are being followed!"

Dehaka turned from giving commands. "Are you certain?"

"Someone has tapped into the police radio. They would need to be nearby for that. And there are no planets near here..." Yttrius explained.

"I understand. They must be cloaked. This is not a good situation. Fetch Casa. We will need her." Said Dehaka.

Casa ran into the room "I'm right here!"

"Good. You are the likely target of this attack. Stay somewhere safe."

Yttrius glanced to Dehaka "What's the plan? None of us are equipped to fight cloaked foes, and you don't use overlords since you don't have psionics. This battle is stacked against us."

Dehaka chittered. "We are able to choose where the battle takes place. They cannot attack until we land, or they risk killing their target. There is only one place I will have a true advantage against any foe."

"Where?" Said Casa.

"Zerus. My homeworld. I gave it to the swarm, and so it will have many overlords. I will know the land. The swarm will strike Terrans or Protoss before they turn on us."

* * *

The Behemoth jumped. Nova's fleet followed. They remained in warp space for long time, until finally The Behemoth dropped into the orbit of a planet, far out of the Koprulu sector. It touched down.

Nova gave the order to her other ships "Execute! Prevent their liftoff! I'm going in."

Her ship dived after The Behemoth. Nova hung onto her handrail as it made a shock landing only a hundred metres away from The Behemoth. An elite marine division charged out, led by Reigel, while Nova herself picked up her trusty sniper rifle and activated her cloak.

Dehaka dropped out of the bottom of the Behemoth. Yttrius followed. He'd brought it down on top of the tunnel network he used to live in, and while it had since been infested by the swarm, it was still a network Dehaka knew the layout of. He ran down a small path, towards the imminent battlefield.

The clash between the forces was immediate and violent. Nova's elite marines were far beyond the regulars, trained to breaking point. Reigel was a field tactician without equal. But at the same time, Dehaka's zerglings had stronger carapaces than normal, their movement patterns were harder to hit. His Hydralisks went the other way, lightly armoured but firing bursting clusters of spines. Reigel deflected one of these clusters with the stock of his shotgun and fluidly brought it round to shred a zergling. He was not to be taken lightly. Nova ran up to the Behemoth. Its veil didn't block psionic scans. Nova saw one of the entrances units were flooding from, and lithely climbed in. She was much more comfortable avoiding battle.

* * *

Dehaka made the first major move of the battle, bursting from the ground directly underneath Nova's ship. Yttrius climbed out after him. "Yttrius. Disable this. We will strike from behind."

Yttrius looked over the exterior, before carefully cutting out a hole in the armour. It gave way to another layer of armour, but it was obviously specialised against bullets and plasma shots, rather than continuous cutting. Eventually, he came through to a layer of circuitry. He chopped it in half. "If it follows safety protocol, then it will no longer allow takeoff into orbit."

Dehaka silently moved to see the battle being waged outside. His forces were barely holding. Carefully, he crept closer to the edge of the ship, and then roared, jumping with a dozen banelings behind him. He'd actually taken the essence for these from Abathur's 'reject pile', the splitter strain. As long as you could get them to the target, then the target would almost certainly have a short lifespan.

The elite marines, to their credit, spun on the spot and began firing at the banelings. Five went down before the rest connected, and that was the end for the left flank of Reigel's troops. Dehaka and Yttrius split. Yttrius charged into the ship, intent on dealing as much damage as possible before slipping out, and Dehaka engaged Reigel.

Reigel was extremely prepared. Heavy duty shotgun, designed explicitly for Dehaka? Check. Flame grenades? Check. Adrenaline beyond the point of fear? Check. He pumped the trigger, discharging a blast of lead into Dehaka's chest. Most of it pierced, but it was far from lethal, or even a deep wound. Dehaka feinted to the side, and fired a spike. Reigel dropped to his knees, evading the shot, and threw his flame grenade, instantly engulfing his target in blue fire. His marines turned to help, before the tide of enemies forced them to focus on holding the line.

* * *

Nova was attempting to navigate the Behemoth. It was tough, but she eventually found one path that was suspiciously well-guarded. She carefully followed it. "Casa..." She carefully called, after checking there were no zerg around.

Casa could hear the call, and paled. Was that really...? It had to be. Right? She carefully picked up her psionic focus. there was a slider on top. She remembered the short instructions for it. 'Pull it back if you just want to knock targets away. Push it forwards to kill.' She tentatively pulled it back. She realised she had to choose now. She could hide, escape and try not to have to return to her old life. Her mother would never let her go outside again after this, she was sure. Or... she could give herself up. She cared for Yttrius deeply, and even though she still feared Dehaka a little- he had still spared and later saved her life. They were fighting outside, what if they- Casa was wracked with indecision, at a crossroads. And accidentally, she let a little bit of her troubled mind broadcast.

Nova picked up the faintest hints of a train of thoughts. She listened in. Even without the words... the meaning was as clear as a knife through the heart. A tiny gasp escaped her lips. Her own daughter saw her as a worse choice than... _Them_. "Casa! I'm sorry!" She said, a little louder. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure nothing was approaching.

* * *

Dehaka and Reigel's duel was messy. The shotgun tore chunks out of Dehaka's body, but it reconstituted very fast. Dehaka would easily be able to crush Reigel, suit and all through strength alone- but if he got in close the shotgun would go from a painful weapon to a genuine threat to him. How many rounds did it have?

Reigel was sweating, as he danced this deadly dance. Three rounds. It had three rounds left. He had no more grenades, but they'd been useless anyway. His suit was damaged, the metal able to only take glancing blows. Time for one last gamble. Reigel lunged, a claw swipe shattering his helmet into a hundred shards of specially toughened glass, but missing his head. He jammed the shotgun under Dehaka's jaw and pulled the trigger.

The first shot punched through the bottom of his jaw, but was stopped by the roof of his mouth, and moved the shotgun to his chest from recoil. Reigel fired again, and again. The next two lacerated his insides, and at the same time Dehaka tried to crush Reigel. The suit buckled instantly, but Dehaka's strength failed quickly. He kept squeezing, a crunch sounding as one of the arms was flattened. He ran out of stamina, and released the suit. His wounds were far too great to keep fighting in the open-

Dehaka's semi-calculated retreat and composed state of mind were suddenly replaced with one, terrifying line of thought. Swarm, coming this way. A full-sized attack force.

* * *

Nova forced the entrance to Dehaka's room open with her mind. She was sure this was where Casa was. She looked around, quickly. It was just a bare chamber, with a slightly unusual floor. Casa could see the barest ripple of a cloak as the psionic power fuelling it was diverted to open the door. She steadied her breathing, clutching the focus. Even if she fired, she might miss. The target might have moved. And even then, her mind was still wrestling with her choice, boiling it down to one key question.

'What do you care about more, the parents who raised you, and would give their lives for you, or the parents who can give you what you want, but may not be so devoted to you?'

Suddenly, Nova decloaked, holding a hand to her earpiece. "Reigel! Are you alright?! Reigel! Your vitals... Damn it, Reigel..." She whispered harshly.

She paused for a second, as a response came through. A tiny smile crept onto her lips. "Thank you, for scaring me half to death. Get yourself onto the transport. I'll make sure you live, arms or not. Did you get the kill?"

Casa froze. 'The kill' had to mean an important target. That was either Dehaka or Yttrius. She pointed her focus at Nova shakily.

Nova listened. "Right, I'll finish the job."

Casa swallowed. She was trembling, but she knew it was time to act. She carefully stood, and crept around the edge of the room. She had to get to the battlefield, quickly.

* * *

The elite forces were pulling back. Aside from Reigel's injuries, there were reports from the fleet in orbit that there was a veritable army of zerg approaching. Elite or not, that meant 'Get out, now'.

Dehaka had a few roaches forming a living wall around him. Losing your guts, jaw and chunks of most of your other body parts was never a painless affair. His blood scabbed over quickly as his body formed a cover for the wounds, but in all honesty his body as it was was ruined. He knew he couldn't move until he had a way to stop all his blood draining, so he kept his head down and watched as the thick black liquid ran down his left leg, onto the ground. He tensed. Something was wrong. His senses weren't running at full with so much of his mind occupied on the injuries, but there was another presence. What was it?

* * *

Casa sprinted once she was out of the room. Her cloak shimmered, but she stayed hidden as she burst from an exit with wild energy, almost fitting in with the mad rush of primal zerg. Where was Yttrius? Where was Dehaka? She saw Yttrius from the corner of her eye. His silvery-white chassis was covered in burns and the blackened marks of bullets, but he was clearly fine. Whatever fighting he'd seen had been superficial. So that meant... She looked again. Most of the primals were harrying the retreating Terrans. But there was one group there... that weren't moving. Casa ran, going as fast as her legs would carry her.

Nova approached the exit just a few moments later, and took under a second to pick out the suspicious group of roaches. She moved cautiously and quickly, weaving through the zerg. Her earpiece buzzed with warnings, but she reached the circle just as Casa did. She levelled her rifle at Dehaka's head, bitterness and rage surging through her mind. All of this was his fault. He stole her daughter. He killed her marines. He hurt Reigel.

Casa knelt in front of Dehaka's face, looking at his wounds. She couldn't tell how bad they were, but they looked far beyond serious to her. What if he was dead already? What-

Her thoughts were interrupted as the bullet pierced her shoulder.

Dehaka didn't fully comprehend what happened until later, but he acted first. As the slowed round hit him in head and harmlessly bounced off, he swung his body weight forwards in a brutal upper slice, knocking Nova's rifle from her hands and denting it beyond repair. He followed through with a downwards strike from his other arm, catching Nova across the face. He could feel his wounds split open again.

Nova stumbled back, as she realised what had happened. Before the full weight of it hit her, she thought of one last desperate move. She activated her warp beacon, designed for bringing back her and a second entity to orbit. She lunged forwards, beacon in hand, activating it...

As Dehaka pressed onwards, unsure what the device was but intending to knock it from Nova's hand. There was a flash.

Yttrius saw the whole thing, and was already running when the shot was fired. As he came up to the circle at a skidding halt, he looked around. Nova was gone. So was Dehaka. But Casa was still there, bleeding on the floor with a shocked expression. Yttrius picked her up, and started running for the Behemoth.

* * *

Reigel's ship lifted off to a chorus of warning alarms. He was already out of his suit and having his arms prepared for emergency surgery, but that didn't stop him trying to help. "What's wrong with us, Captain?"

"Hull damage. And a few on board areas have been severely damaged, somehow sir. We can't warp, and we can't leave the atmosphere sir."

"Not good. Just get us away from here. Organise an extraction, and abandon the ship." Reigel commanded coolly.

* * *

Nova collapsed to the floor of her ship's warp bay. Her face was cut nastily, but the claws had missed anything that wouldn't heal. She groaned in pain, as she said "Casa, are you alive?"

Dehaka didn't reply, since he had no jaw. But he growled, forcing himself to his feet.

Nova jumped back "What?! You... I'll..."

The ship was only manned by a skeleton crew, a pilot, maybe three technicians and two gun operators. All Nova's standing forces were stranded on Zerus. There was nothing on board that would be able to kill Dehaka, apart from... his own wounds?

"Wait, you can't attack me or you'll bleed out. But I can't attack you without getting close enough that you'd kill me anyway..." Deduced the ghost. "It's a damn stalemate! This... this just isn't fair! You stole Casa! You brainwashed her! You deserve death, you filthy animal!" Nova shouted.

Dehaka didn't take his eyes of Nova, but used one of his smaller arms to feel his injuries. They were serious alright. And he felt light-headed... a sure sign of extreme blood loss. He focused on regrowing his jaw. He would have impaled Nova with a tail spike if he could've, but his tail was somewhere on Zerus' surface right now. The jaw didn't take long to superficially regrow.

"You shot your daughter." He said.

* * *

Yttrius was in a state of panic. The shot had grazed a lung, and done a lot of internal damage. The Medi-adjutant had stabilised Casa, but it could only do so much. What could he do? Logically, only one thing. But first, the swarm approached. He had to get the Behemoth off the ground. He carefully made his way to the nerve centre, as the primals returned to the ship now that their foe had left. How to fly this thing?

He had prepared in advance. He played a simple audio recording of Dehaka from the first time he'd been in here, and to his relief, the Behemoth lifted off the ground. Now for Casa.

He opened a channel to the fleet above, before they started firing. "Hold your fire! I have Nova's daughter, critically wounded!"

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Purifier 80995, Yttrius. Assigned bodyguard to Casa Terra. Now hold your fire on the Behemoth! Patch me through to Nova!"

"Relaying. Patching you through now." There was a click. "THIS BETTER BE DAMN IMPORTANT!" Came Nova's voice.

"This is Purifier 80995, Yttrius. I have your daughter. Do not open fire on the Behemoth."

"Captain, if you shoot that floating bag of murder I'll throw you out of the airlock! Is Casa okay?"

"She has been shot in the shoulder from behind. The bullet grazed a lung and while our onboard medical machinery was able to suppress the injury, it is far beyond my capacity to heal. Without advanced medical care, she won't see the end of the hour."

* * *

Dehaka overheard all of this. Nova's comm device had been knocked astray by his upper slice. "Yttrius. You will save her."

Nova looked to Dehaka in confusion and disgust. "What do you care?!"

Dehaka considered completely unhinging her with 'more than you', but settled for "She must live. There are two ways that she may survive this. You, Nova. You will despise both, so do not interrupt. Give me the device."

Nova reluctantly passed Dehaka the headset.

Dehaka held it close to his mouth. "Both our races can save the dying. She must either be infested, or rebuilt as one of your... machines."

Yttrius was reaching new planes of stress only previously touched by some of the commanders in the End War. "Neither process has a high chance of success. We have never attempted to create a terran stalker, or purifier. And while our records are small for this, an infestation she could control to avoid killing herself requires a high level of focus. She's unconscious. We would either need an expert in Terran psionics and how they link to the mind, or some way of... intelligently infesting her."

Nova grabbed the headset "I know a team that can do the former. Gabriel Tosh, Egon Stetmann, and Raquel Forté. Tosh is the leader of the spectres. He hates me, but he knows a lot about how psionics link to the mind. Egon is a leading bioengineer. He can probably work out the body. Raquel... she initially created the spectre project, proved it possible. Officially dead, but I know where she hides."

Dehaka carefully leaned in, mindful of his scabs. "Controlled infestation is also possible... Though, we would have to bargain with the swarm. I dislike them, but Abathur is able to redesign a body. He would succeed, but, I detest the swarm, and have been clear of that. They may be impossible to bargain with."

Yttrius controlled his voice carefully "So both routes are possible... I would like Casa to choose, as it is her future... but as her legal guardian, it is my duty to judge this."

"WHAT?!" exploded Nova "I'm her mother, you brainless thing!"

"Nova, aside from the fact you are the most wanted criminal in the sector, you inflicted this injury yourself, legal grounds for immediate removal of a minor. I will still do my best, of course. And for what it's worth, I'll leave you to decide if she ever finds out who shot her. Now, I must run some calculations. I will choose the option most likely to succeed." Said Yttrius.

 **Splitting path: Casa's life**

 **Option A: Mechanical body**

 **Casa's consciousness will be transferred to a new body, designed jointly by Egon Stetmann and Karax. The process will be almost entirely based on data from other experiments and likely to be wrought with problems, but will have full support from the Dominion and Daelaam.**

 **Option B: Infestation**

 **Casa will be handed to Abathur, to have herself fully redesigned as a zerg. The process will certainly succeed, but hinges on Zagara opting to allow it to occur.**

 **Author's note: This decision will be made by you. Send a PM, and most votes wins but pay attention here: I will count a vote twice if you include a good reason for your choice. In event of a tie, the choice that recieved the first vote wins. The ultimate outcome of this will not change my story's path as a whole, but will dictate Casa's ending.**

 **Terranmain: Perhaps biting isn't generally a good way to parent, but neither is shooting them in the shoulder. And it was 'restrained bite intended to give lesson' or 'possibly dying in combat'.**


	7. Chapter 7: The end of the beginning

**I'm back! Sorry for the wait, computer was broken.**

Yttrius finished his mental calculations. "I believe we have a greater chance of success if we bargain with Zagara. Transitioning to a mechanical body has an overall success chance of around 60%. But with the essence we have gathered on board, I believe we can organise a deal. Nova. We need you to return Dehaka to this ship so that he can pilot it. I only have basic commands recorded."

There was radio silence, to Yttrius' dismay. "Nova, respond. I need Dehaka to pilot this ship."

Nova had not actually left Yttrius' channel in rage, but rather was dealing with a secondary problem- Reigel.

"Nova, we're moving away as fast as we can, but we need extraction now. The ship is damaged and won't last much longer. We're heading towards an island we saw from orbit." Crackled Reigel.

"We'll send down one of the other ships for you! Have you shaken off any followers?"

Dehaka looked to Nova. "No. Do not send them there. That island is a large mutalisk nest. They would rip apart your ships."

Nova looked ready to question that, but was low on time to give commands. "Reigel, the island might be mutalisk-heavy. Scan it."

"Okay..." There was a heavy pause. "Gods above. Never seen so many in one place. Now where do we land?"

Nova brought up an orbital map of the planet. She picked out Reigel's red dot and zoomed in, quickly surveying the land in reach of the ship. "Try the clifftops to the west. They have the sparsest jungle."

"Confirmed. Pick us up in five." There was a click as Reigel closed the channel.

Nova looked at Dehaka in total confusion. "Why would you help us then? We were about to wipe ourselves out."

"Casa will not realise her potential under disabling negative emotion. Do not mistake me for an ally."

"Fine." Nova clicked the headset back to a frantic Yttrius. "Right, how does she die?" Said Nova resignedly.

"Infestation has a greater overall chance of success. Now, for the last time. I need Dehaka back to actually control this ship. His pack is growing agitated."

Nova looked back to Dehaka. "Well. You heard him. Get out. The hangar can take a nydus."

Dehaka left the room wordlessly. Nova watched him go, and collapsed backwards onto the floor. _No matter what. No matter what I have to endure. I'll save you, Casa. I'll make it all up to you._ Tears and blood streamed down her face.

* * *

Reigel's ship careened into a rough landing on the cliffs, but it was enough. A few of the most gravely injured soldiers didn't survive the impact, but everyone else was fine. "Alright. Pick us up quickly."

To his relief, a transport broke through the clouds rather than a zerg.

* * *

Dehaka was able to pull himself aboard The Behemoth.

The first thing he saw was Yttrius with the angriest face a purifier had ever held. It was only a visor with a light array, but it had the emotion of a man betrayed. "How could you allow this to happen?" He said, voice as hard and grating as steel.

"I did not allow it to happen. I was incapacitated. I must heal, before we face Zagara. Time is short, and she respects strength above all." Answered Dehaka.

"Set our course for Char first. I must continue to tend to Casa." Yttrius snapped before marching off.

Dehaka made it to the nerve centre easily enough. A few sounds, and The Behemoth started to move towards Char. Dehaka limped over to his room, and lay down on the floor. He relaxed all his muscles, allowing his mind to properly assess the damage and work out what he needed. All things considered, it was time for a more dramatic change. Now would be a good time, since so much of his body would need to be regrown anyway.

Dehaka limped out, and dragged himself to the spawning pool. He carefully climbed in, and allowed the top to coat over in a seal. It was best described as the polar opposite of sleep. While Dehaka could feel his stamina refilling and his wounds mending, he was more and more awake as the nutrient-rich liquid allowed him to replace his lost blood. Now for some more changes. The chest plating could go. It was only as protective as the rest of his hide nowadays, and his hide healed faster and was more flexible. Posture? He didn't need to stand fully upright, a slight forward leaning would be much stronger. Body shape was redone largely, and Dehaka melded his head plates together into a more protective piece of armour. His back spikes went from thin weapons that might be driven into an unlucky foe to large, special blades he could use to absorb low-class psionic attacks. More muscle was focused to his attacking arms, while refining the bone structure a little. He opted to remove most of the spikes on his tail, and allow for stronger armour and a single, powerful spike. His mouth reshaped into a wider thing without skin attached to the mandibles on the side. He grew additional glands on his shoulders, copied from other zerg to project a damaging field. Internally, he opted to expand the amount of essence he could store in exchange for reduced jumping power. He could still climb surfaces if need be. After ten minutes, Dehaka swiped a claw through the membrane at the top of the pool, and burst out. He spat some of the green fluid onto the floor and growled, feeling his new body. It felt good, fresh and tough.

He moved for the bridge, preparing to contact the overqueen.

* * *

The Behemoth sent out a quick psionic signal in Char's general direction. Zagara's response was swift.

"You are either bold or foolish to address me. Cerebrate, we will rip you to dust!"

Nova spoke through Yttrius, who was also on the bridge. "Enemy fliers dispatched. We have been in this system for twenty seconds."

"I am no Cerebrate. You should know this." Dehaka instructed the ship to say.

"...Dehaka..? You dare return?" Came the reply.

"Call back your forces. I require something. Have essence to exchange." Dehaka growled.

Zagara's words seethed with venom. "What could you possibly require of us? We offer you only one service: Swift death!"

"I require Abathur to remake a Terran personally. Does that interest you?"

A new voice joined the conversation "Organism Dehaka. Offer, lacks context. Explain." The slug himself had joined. Apparently he had psionics of his own now.

"I have found a Terran with potential close to the queen of blades. But, badly wounded. Will not survive long without remaking. They will not realise this potential if dead." Dehaka explained.

Abathur interjected. "Organism Zagara. High chance powerful sequences can be obtained, little cost. Recommend agreement."

"Fine. Your life will be insurance, Dehaka. Meet us on the surface. One false move, and your end will be immediate. We expect all the essence you can offer." Came Zagara.

* * *

Yttrius had no choice but to remain on board for the trip to Char. No matter how strong one unit is, if you go up against an entire planet without the means to counter thier armies, your end will be swift. Dehaka carried Casa's unconscious body onto the surface of the hellscape. In all fairness, it wasn't a hellscape to the zerg. The constant volcanic activity meant the soil was always mineral rich, so who cared about the burning lava?

Zagara didn't greet Dehaka personally. A lesser queen had the honours. "Bring the Terran this way. You will stay here, while your drones unload what essence you offer."

"Abathur. I know you listen. Do not fail the swarm now." Said Dehaka, directly to the queen's face. He walked to a Nydus worm, and carefully slid Casa into it.

* * *

Casa became aware of... something. Something really... vivid? It was like a very vivid dream... You couldn't tell what was weird, because your mind wasn't active enough to recognise it as weird. She dreamt she was falling... falling, oh so calmly... just looking up into space, while falling. And then, she stopped. Now she was floating. Operating by her subconscious, Dream-Casa looked around. She was in a computer. She couldn't see anything to suggest that, but she knew she was. She could see red, a dark red, like blood. And the light beige of skin.

Suddenly, she doubled over in pain. It felt like every inch of her was burning, being ripped to shreds, and boiling. The pain was immense. She should have blacked out, but she was already unconscious. She looked at herself, so to speak, and instantly knew- she was different. She could see forever...

* * *

Abathur was _brutally_ efficient. Casa had been cocooned into a bag of fluid that would allow for drastic alterations in seconds. After just a minute, Casa was, rather messily, being optimised. Entire systems were ripped out and discarded, replaced with better ones. Growth hormone production was increased exponentially. Bone structure and muscle mass? Reworked from the ground up. That was Abathur's quick preliminary. Now for the part he cared about.

Analysing Casa's psionics was a delicate affair. There was no question that there was some kind of slight mutation in the girl. Dehaka had picked up on it. But Abathur was the one who could analyse it. Carefully, he identified and isolated the strand.

First, he examined it as a whole. It made no sense at all, for a Terran sequence. There were only four Terran amino acids. This strand had six. He broke it down further. The two extra acids seemed normal enough... but they were being used to transmit an entirely different command to cells.

He created a cell, and exposed it to the isolated strand of psionic DNA. And in that moment, he made a mass of deductions. Terran females were better psionics because testosterone drowned out this command. The command fundamentally altered the cell, giving it a slight psionic potential. And like everything else in the universe, it could be improved. The main mystery... was how it had evolved. It was shockingly well done for a random evolution. As if ten thousand years were passed in five.

Carefully, Abathur swapped a few links in the DNA around. He cut one or two parts. And he transplanted the genetic update. Previously, every cell in Casa had added an almost imperceptible amount of psionic potential to her. Now... Well, the rest of the body might need some more updates to handle this.

* * *

Dehaka was glaring at the small army assigned to guard, and probably execute him. Zagara really didn't have any reason to keep him alive. He was planning to dive underground and have his pack charge the army to generate an exit route, but then the lines parted.

Zagara was here. "Dehaka..." She said. "Why sacrifice yourself for a Terran? You knew we would not allow you to leave."

Dehaka's tail made that involuntary flick of amusement. "Do you not see it yet?"

"See what? You have no forces afoot here! Your resources are mine. No trap you can spring. No ship could even come into orbit here."

"The potential. That Terran... is different. I would not collect from them. Do you know why?" Dehaka said.

Zagara stared Dehaka directly in the face. "I know you do not wish for psionics, false kin."

"She is the same... as Kerrigan. Not simply similar. Her very body... it has the faintest trace of the Xel'naga. She is not just the spawn of Nova. She is the design of the Queen of Blades. She is surely destined to bring essence. And so, I will facilitate her growth. And in time, I will follow, as she will bring essence." Dehaka explained.

"LIAR!" Zagara's spine flew for Dehaka's head. "She is NOT linked to the Queen of Blades! The Queen would not trust her spawn to any but the swarm!"

Dehaka ducked under the spine, and growled. "Abathur is proving me right as you speak. She will have her potential unlocked... just wait."

And so, they tensely waited. Each poised to strike.

* * *

Casa woke with a start. This had the immediate effect of generating a psionic shockwave that burst her container to shreds. Abathur was already fleeing from his creation. He'd known full well how Casa would need to adjust to the power, so he'd set her to wake up in five minutes and slugged away.

Ever had a lot of caffeine at once? Enough to feel unstoppable, limitless? Casa felt a lot more powerful, and ten times as jittery. She shouted a war cry, oblivious to the fact it was a scream befitting a zerg, and blasted herself upwards. The bedrock was parted like air as the seven-year old tore through the mantle, in a surge of intense blue light.

* * *

Nova looked incredulously at her display. "Reigel... I think the display is broken?"

Reigel hobbled over "Psionic index fifteen? Yes, it must be broken. Look, it's already fading."

* * *

Casa was, technically speaking, not psionic index fifteen. Abathur had just... been a bit clever with her. He'd removed any kind of restraint her body had on its power, and made sure it had effectively no cap on how much it could discharge at once. After making every cell have decent psionic capability, akin to the old Queen of blades. The result: Casa able to reach up to absurd psionic indexes, just not for long. At all. Casa breached the crust of the planet, and her psionics sputtered out, dropping her unceremoniously onto the floor, a few meters away from her exit crater.

She picked herself up, and went to brush the dirt off her environment suit. Claws scratched her carapace. Casa stopped in shock, and looked at herself. Her arms were plated in some kind of carapace, as was the rest of her body. Her fingernails were gone, replaced with claws. And at the same time, she felt almost like she could read her own body's stats. She had a second heart. Her psionics were currently in need of additional fuel. Her tail was- wait, what.

Casa turned to look at her back. True to her thoughts, she now had a tail, or rather, a dozen small tails. Each was a thin brown thing, the same colour as the rest of her body, and Casa experimentally moved one. It was completely natural. But what were they for?

Abathur had been psionically eavesdropping on Casa's thoughts. "Additional appendages, defensive mechanism. Can regrow quickly, and extend. Useful to protect from ranged attacks, also good at melee combat once body has developed. Highly flexible. Possible uses, numerous."

Casa moved the tail to the side, willing it to stretch. It extended to about two metres in total. It was then that she realised she had no idea where she was, why she was here, and whether anyone she cared about had survived the last battle. "Crazy voice person. What happened?" She whispered.

"Organism Dehaka instructed your recreation. Deep wound, beyond other repair. Body now product of design. Enhanced to move closer to perfection. Sequences optimised, copied. Beneficial trade between swarm and antiquated zerg."

Casa's mind jumped back to her family, blood and bond. "Where is..." Dehaka? Mom? Dad? Yttrius? "My family?"

"Organisms related to you... Exact location, unknown. Within sector. Now, must test abilities. Obtain data. Beginning combat. No mercy."

A pair of zerglings charged Casa. For a moment, she remembered the harmless ones on The Behemoth. And then, despite her new skin, she felt a phantom, painful sensation of teeth biting into her side, lifting her up. _Any other zerg will not hesitate._

Casa made a finger gun. Unlike a normal seven-year old's finger gun, this one shot a laser. The first zergling was cut in half. The other one closed the gap, and Casa reflexively moved her tails to block the bite. She did not expect every tail to sprout a short psionic beam, but they did. While four of her tails were severed by the others, eight were more than enough to dice a regular zergling into salsa.

Abathur talked again "Calibration, complete. Inefficient, much to improve. Require far more data. Have task. Location, here. Engage overqueen's forces. Gather data."

"Why? That's dangerous!" Said Casa.

"Organism Dehaka in danger. Dislike, would terminate, but, understand importance to you. Useful motivation."

Casa prepared another surge of power.

* * *

Zagara looked at the blue speck that had risen into the sky in panic. "You were not lying?!"

Casa dashed towards the overqueen. She slammed into the floor at just under mach one, the shockwave forcing the zerg to step back or be knocked over.

"Abathur! Again with your testing!" Zagara stared Casa in the face. "Destroy the new breed! I will not have a repeat of the Typhoon strain!"

Casa stamped on the floor. The result was akin to a wave seen when you flick a rope but in a wide cone, Zagara's forces flying into the air briefly. And then Casa's body ran out of fuel.

As Casa fainted, Dehaka saw his chance and seized it. He tackled the falling Casa, and held her tightly with his small arms as he dove into the ground. He was under before Zagara hit the floor. After a few dozen metres, he burst out onto the surface, and just ran. Nydus worms erupted around him, but none were able to fully intercept. The Behemoth was getting closer...

And then, a leviathan descended. Dehaka roared at it in hatred and frustration, but he couldn't stop it as it fired grappling tentacles onto his ship.

* * *

To Yttrius' credit, he had been waiting by the doors for when things went wrong. He did not expect them to go wrong by The Behemoth getting attacked. The ship was lifted from the ground.

He did not panic. He was used to stress. Yttrius calmly climbed out of the doors, up the side of The Behemoth, and started hacking away at the leviathan's tentacles. He smiled as he recalled memories of previous fights, before even the brood war. He and his team versus all the zerg there were. Glorious.

This was where he belonged. A tentacle descended, and Yttrius leapt into the air to slice it. He could feel all the pent-up stress finally finding a suitable exit. In just a few seconds, the emotionless, cold Yttrius was gone, and the original templar Yttrius, the templar who inspired his warriors and was loved by all, the Yttrius who would proudly give his life for his allies, was alive. For the second time.

* * *

Dehaka watched as Yttrius hacked through the descending tentacles, and sprinted faster, closing the distance. He could hear zerglings screeching as they charged, and they were certainly built for speed, more than twice as fast as Dehaka.

As one got close, Dehaka put all his considerable weight onto one foot and swung his tail into the zergling, hard. The spike was able to break something, since the Zergling was reduced to limping.

Many more would have followed, but Dehaka reached the Behemoth. The entrance sealed behind him immediately. Dehaka dropped Casa into a corner and ran for the nerve centre, all too aware that there were forces trying to kill his ship at that exact moment.

He didn't bother trying to take off normally, and immediately ordered a blink to Nova's ship.

* * *

Yttrius found he was suddenly in space. He was very glad he didn't need to care about pressure or temperature. Unfortunately, he did still have to care about momentum. The weight of his own swing had carried him a gut-wrenching few centimetres from the behemoth's surface.

This wouldn't have been a problem if he had time, but he could already see hints that both ships were powering up for a long-range warp, out of Zagara's sight. Training never covered this.

Five seconds to warp. Yttrius flailed in vain, trying to touch the Behemoth. What to do?! Four seconds. He needed to move himself three centimetres. Three. How...? Of course! Two. Yttrius pointed his newer arm away from the behemoth and fired the shockwave. One. The recoil gently nudged him to safety, and then the warp completed.

* * *

Everyone was meeting in the hangar of Nova's ship. Yttrius had climbed around the behemoth and entered, and was easily the most spirited in the room. Something subtle had changed about him overall, as if a mental chain had finally snapped.

Casa was drinking from a bag of vespene. She'd woken up and immediately shouted to Dehaka for help, because she was on the brink of starving to death. Without much essence on board, Dehaka had begrudgingly hacked up his earlier meal, before finding something else Casa could feed on. Nova was more than a little concerned at the fact vespene was also commonly refined to rocket fuel, but was too busy trying to process everything to complain.

Dehaka was sitting around, watching the room. He was a little impatient, knowing that his quest for essence needed to be continued.

Reigel was inadvertently showing off his new arm. Considering he'd lost the original only ten hours ago, he was very collected. The metal limb was a sleek replacement, designed to replicate the original as closely as could be, but it was also a computer, and capable of withstanding a lot more force. Aside from that, he looked at his daughter bewildered.

Casa finished, and tossed the bag aside. For a few moments, everyone looked at each other, unsure what to say. "So..." began Casa "Who am I now?"

Nova jumped in with an answer. "You're still Casa, to me. I won't abandon you."

"No, I mean, when I did history, Kerrigan got called the Queen of blades! I want a cool name!" Said Casa.

Reigel smiled, if only for Casa's sake "That's our girl alright. Given nigh unlimited power, and not even fazed."

"It isn't very unlimited, don't let her scare you. We should all decide on a name for her." Said Yttrius.

Dehaka glanced. "By previous standards... Princess of psionics. Not developed to Queen. Specialised only to psionic combat."

Reigel leaned forward "Maybe we should hold off on names until we've got some more important things figured out. Firstly... the Dominion. We simply can't conceal power like this for long. So how are we going to explain this? Second, the Swarm. Zagara isn't known for forgiveness, and every time Casa uses her power every psionic in range will feel it. And lastly, the Daelaam. If we make enemies of them, then they're more tenacious than any zerg. They'll not stop until Casa is..." he trailed off.

Nova's eyes narrowed "I can handle the Dominion. At least, better than the rest of us."

"Hold. They know already of Casa. They wish to capture you, and believe you are a great threat to them." Said Dehaka.

"Well, they're right. Anyway, I can contact Valerian directly, they never revoked my old messaging codes, since I changed the records to show that they already did. I'll fill him in so we don't get half the battlecruisers in Koprulu sent after us. Of course, he may still go after us. He's a kind man, but a true leader- threats to his people are not tolerated."

Reigel chipped in again. "As for the swarm... we have no chance of keeping them off our backs. We need some kind of method of reliably escaping them. Our ship's warp drives will do in the short term, but Zagara can easily block a warp from afar. It's a near miracle she didn't earlier."

Dehaka considered everything "I am no expert in your 'laws', Yttrius. Will the agreement of our kinds extend to Casa?"

Yttrius had no mouth, and never had, but everyone could tell a proud smile would have crept onto it. "Do not worry. Infested Terrans are bound by the neutrality agreement too, thanks to your commander Stukov. Although, technically, we could be recognised as a faction outside the agreement, as rogues. Even so, I have the utmost faith in Hierarch Artanis to act with pure reasoning."

"Alright then. What do we do for Casa? Who does she stay with? Both parties could be referred to as her family now." Asked Reigel.

Nova glared "Reigel this is our daughter!"

"I- yes. That was a bit thoughtless, but I'm trying to be neutral here." Reigel stuttered.

Yttrius held up a hand, identifying the potential fight between Dehaka and Nova. "We allow her to choose. While seven is young for a Terran, she's grown a lot lately. I think she can make a serious decision. And even if she makes the wrong one, she can change it later."

The two commanders stared each other in the eyes. "...I guess it's the best way." Conceded Nova. "Casa. I promise I'll spend more time with you if you come back. I'll let you go anywhere. I'll be the parent you always wanted. So will your dad. We'll both do everything we can for you."

Dehaka just looked at Casa. "Casa. Realise your potential. That will bring essence. That is all I desire."

Casa could feel her two hearts thumping. "But... What if I never get to see someone again? Why can't we all go together, mom?"

"We can't travel together... I have to care for the people at home too, Casa. Without me there for them, they would die." Nova said sadly.

"Then... Then..." Casa held back her breath... she carefully exhaled. "I think I have to go with Dehaka, mom. If we have to stay at home, the swarm will find me. And then everyone would die."

Nova hung her head. For the longest time, she as silent. "Reigel... can you take care of the colony?"

"I can. November, what are you planning to-"

"Casa. Forget what I said before. I'll take you anywhere you want. Anywhere. Please, come back to me." Nova begged.

Casa looked back to Dehaka. "Do not ask me for guidance. I do not think as a Terran. Act for yourself. You will not bring essence until you realise your potential." He said.

Casa finally turned back to Nova. "Mom." She said confidently. "Let's go and explore everywhere."

Nova, for the first time in three years, knelt and hugged her daughter.

Yttrius watched. "We should go our seperate ways now, Dehaka. Casa, remember all you have learnt here. En Taro Adun, primal."

"Eh... En taro adun. I'll visit you loads, Dehaka!" Said Casa.

Dehaka had nearly forgotten Yttrius was Casa's bodyguard above all. The Purifier had become a trusted right-hand. "I will remember you. It is customary to express positivity to allies, yes? Casa. You will succeed. Good bye, for some time. Yttrius. En Taro Adun."

* * *

It felt oddly cold on board the behemoth that night. Dehaka reflected on Casa as he rested, trying to work out when she would realise her potential. He didn't mind waiting, he concluded.

* * *

Yttrius went into a reduced power state, recharging for the day to come. A part of his mind was locked on Casa, as she slept inside the room he was guarding. She was his duty. He would never fail in his duty.

* * *

Nova thought about the fact her daughter was a zerg now. That she'd nearly chosen not to return to her. That she'd failed as a parent. But nonetheless, she had her most restful night in weeks, difting to sleep calmly.

* * *

Casa couldn't sleep. Her new body might have been great for combat, and hunting, and being a zerg in general, but she hadn't needed the bathroom in over a day and she wasn't sure why. Aside from that, her sleeping chamber didn't accommodate her tails very well. It was a good thing that she didn't feel pain as more than a notification now.

 **Author's notes: Dehaka's transformation is to the body he has in Heroes of the Storm. It was confirmed as canonically what he looks like after the end of SC2, but doesn't appear in-game. In case you're wondering, he has not got his full moveset from Heroes yet, still lacking Isolation.**

 **Next chapter will be a timelapse, spanning the time the main characters spend apart. It will cover a few developments, and introduce the main issue of the story. Zerg won the vote five to three, in total. Not a crushing victory, but decisive.  
**

 **Electron97: I did heavily consider dragoon, but I like my characters to be at least a little different to the established lore figures. I was planning to basically give her a mechanical form like a small mothership core: A capsule with Casa's lifesupport, then a layer of really good psionic amplifiers, then a few small drones and other weapons to control from in there. After very nearly not making it several times, and gaining a distrust for a lot of people.**

 **Mpopl2: Okay, first things first- your arguments were kickass. Really well done. I nearly decided to count you for three points. While I fear the infestation thus far is as stereotypical as you may fear... let's just say I have some surprises in store.**

 **Samateus-Taal: How's that for pushing limits?**


	8. Chapter 8: A skip through time

One month after infestation, Nova was holding to her promise hard. She'd taken Casa to every major planet she could manage, even Korhal. It was difficult, and often a covert operation since Casa was unmistakably zerg, but every time Casa stepped foot on a new world she was thrilled. In those moments when her joy was so vivid, Nova could almost forget their circumstances, and just be happy for her daughter.

She could almost forget Casa was a zerg. She could almost forget it was her fault. But even the most fleeting glance brought her crashing back to reality, filled with regrets.

Casa was not a very apt mind reader, and could never tell what her mother was thinking. But she often felt Nova was never particularly warm. Always subdued around her, even as she was smooth and confident around everyone else. As if something in Nova just... didn't like her.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to plant a tiny seed of doubt. That maybe she shouldn't tell her about this feeling that sometimes, it felt like someone was trying to control her. No... supposed to control her.

* * *

Six months later, Casa had grown from the size of an eight year old to a sixteen year old. She'd seen a lot more of Koprulu, and was steadily becoming a seasoned traveller. And hunter, too. Her new form demanded essence, but it seemed the ability to incorporate new traits was restricted.

Nova was growing to appreciate her daughter's incredible combat prowess. Those tails could stretch deceptively far, and the beams were almost as lethal as psi-blades. She'd been working on flight, energy projectiles, duel tactics... Yet despite her physical power, her mind was still developing. She needed the attention of Nova and Yttrius, and Reigel often.

* * *

One year later, Dehaka was hauling biomass aboard his Behemoth when his foot hit something hard and metallic, very unlike the rest of the floor. He looked at the object. It was dirty and scratched, having been lost around the ship for so long, but he recognised it as Casa's psionic focus. Yttrius must have forgotten it. He wondered how Casa and Yttrius were growing. Were they even still alive? He'd given Casa all she needed to survive, so yes. The girl was in good hands.

The radio bug was still active, too. He listened, as the behemoth wandered through space. 'Earlier, the UED broadcast the following message to our people through a satellite they launched.'

'Surviving citizens of the Terran Dominion. The United Earth Directorate wishes to enter negotiations with your leader. You have twenty four hours to respond.'

'Do they bring peace, or war? And more importantly, do we? Donny Vermillion, signing out.'

United Earth Directorate? Who? Probably not a threat to him, but worth monitoring...

* * *

Two days after that, Valerian was sitting down to a video conversation with the UED leader. He could feel just a flicker of anxiety at his first contact with the faction his father had so many tales about. "Greetings on behalf of the Terran Dominion. I am Emperor Valerian Mengsk."

The UED leader was a sour-faced lady in a grey suit. Hair hair matched the colour perfectly, and was cut to an exactly uniform length. "Greetings, Emperor. I am Billia Ridgewell, the current president of Earth and it's colonies. We have contacted you to inform you that while your Dominion has had a severely negative past with the UED, you may still become our allies if you comply with our terms. You must require our help, with the threat of the Zerg?"

Valerian broke down the offer in his head. They wanted to form an alliance despite the history? And they thought the Dominion needed help... but the way she worded it... "I am always interested in securing peace, Mrs President. I would like to hear your terms."

"We wish to re-integrate the Dominion into our Directorate. Return our colonies to our command. You will retain your position, to a degree, but will legally reform to UED standards and will answer to our command. In exchange, you will recieve access to our military might for eradicating the zerg." Billia's words were cool and calculated.

Valerian was careful to let no emotion or unnecessary information slip. "I apologise, Madam President, but we do not currently desire military assistance. I am still open to mutual alliance, if we can negotiate terms."

"I find that difficult to believe, given our records of the zerg. What terms would you propose?"

"Creation of an embassy for both our peoples on our respective homeworlds. Exchange of information regarding current events in both sectors, and the right to open trade routes between our parties." All options that would help him assess the UED's trustworthiness.

"We cannot guarantee you will not betray us. We have not forgiven your transgressions, and you were originally our colony. Why should we agree?" Billa said sharply.

Valerian felt a proverbial lightbulb blink on inside his head. Billia didn't know he was at peace with the Zerg, Protoss and had been running a flourishing economy for months. "Madam President, I wish to act for the good of my people, and starting a war with you has our defeat as a real possibility. Betraying you makes no sense."

"Ah." Billia's eyes narrowed, like she'd locked onto something. "So you admit your ragtag empire's weakness. I offer you once again- return to us or there will be war. We have the might to overwhelm you with a token force, mere pocket change for us. You can't hope to win on three fronts at once, child. Do you want to pick a losing battle?"

"We will fight back if attacked. I will defend my people, and that means giving them an empire that will treat them fairly. If you are so sure we belong to you, then I doubt my people will see anything more than discrimination and injustice."

"Farewell, Emperor. It is a shame you couldn't see reason." The call cut out.

An officer at the back of the room actually smiled. "Well. I suppose if she wants a war..."

"She'll get one." Matthew Horner confirmed. "I'll contact our allies, they'll be more than happy to defend themselves. And Tosh can chase up our End War commanders. I fully support your decision to resist, Emperor Valerian."

* * *

Eighteen months had passed since Dehaka and Casa parted ways, and a few small skirmishes had occurred between the UED and Dominion. They were nothing but probes of defences, to test the waters.

The 'Fleet' that was leading this assault barely qualified for the name. It was clearly little more than a flying forwards base, with four large battlecruisers in formation, surrounded by a few smaller ships.

Stukov looked at it through an overseer, and couldn't help but chuckle. If the UED thought that was going to be able to take on Koprulu, the command structure had clearly gone insane in DuGalle's absence. No, this was a scouting force. Still, there was one worry. "Oh, son... I hope you're no following in my footsteps."

Information they gathered made the UED attack plan clear. Launch two small diversionary conquests, and then go straight for Korhal. Zagara was indeed quite happy to be handed an advance warning by Valerian that one of her worlds was about to be attacked.

She moved all broods underground. Every inch of the planet concealed nothing but chitin and death. Suffice to say, the assault was disastrous.

Aside from other fortifications, Nova was called on to help. Valerian put out the contract for her, and by some sense of duty, she answered. Her work was seriously impressive, and the reason behind the outstanding failure of the UED's every action.

She and Casa were currently on board one of the main UED ships. Every command the UED general gave reached Valerian before the UED troops. Aside from that, Casa was slowly breaking the mind of every UED ghost on board with feedback. It was a protoss technique, which Yttrius had graciously shared what he knew of.

They intended to kill the enemy general, but for the time being, he remained under too competent a guard.

Still, the skirmishes hurt the Dominion. Matthew wasn't as inspiring as Raynor, and couldn't pull morale from seemingly nowhere. Keeping the public calmwas the most difficult task he'd faced in a long time.

* * *

And six months after that, when the UED was in a passive standoff, having switched tactics to passive ones, the most important part of the altercation occured.

Casa was resting in the storage bay of the ship, and glanced at the tip of one of her tails. She noticed the blue tip was orange, and felt a shot of confusion. THat had never happened before...

She went to tap Nova, who was sleeping in a crate next to her. But her arm didn't respond. She wasn't in control of her body. It just wasn't responding. And then she sensed it, an unmistakable feeling. Like seeing a door you locked opened, a copied key in the lock. Someone else was in her head.

Before the hivemind took away access to her psionics, Casa panicked. And as loudly as she could, projected one single cry for help.

" _DEHAKA!"_

Every trooper in the fleet doubled over in agony at the volume. The call was of such magnitude that even thousands of lightyears away, many Dominion troops heard Casa's cry clearly. The Overlord that had been acting as a relay for the hivemind connection, drifting through space, popped like a balloon.

Nova jolted awake, her own power only just saving her from being killed outright. But it left her stunned inside her crate, as Casa felt herself regain control of her body.

Then the alarms started blaring.

In a mere minute, an armoured squadron burst into the room. Casa was holding herself against the ceiling with her telekinesis, having hastily turned the crate to face the wall.

"The explosion came from here, chief."

"Sweep the room. All our ghosts are in sickbay or dead, but we can still scan. Find what let off that blast and destroy it or contain it."

"Yes sir!"

Casa wasn't holding her breath, but she couldn't levitate forever, especially after sending out a distress call at that volume. She could feel herself slipping, but held out for a few extra moments. If the squad moved just a little further forwards, then maybe...

She dropped down, igniting her tails. With twelve precise cuts, she killed all six soldiers before they had any chance to react. A perfect victory, but she knew the security cameras had her now.

She grabbed Nova's box with her mind and ripped a hole in the wall with her psionic energy. Her reserves of stamina were draining away fast. She needed to escape immediately. She stumbled, as the lack of energy left in her body started to catch up to her.

She felt her mind wobble, dipping in and out of consciousness. She'd already needed food and rest before this. Ripping through the wall had taken too much energy. The hangar was ahead, but troops were rounding the corner behind her. She took a few more steps, and it all went black as she fainted, brain undersupplied.

 **Author's notes: Had to rewrite this thing from the ground up, because I didn't save the original. Minor alterations have been made to better fit with Exile Of The Swarm. Updated to this version Jan 2019.**

 **Review answers will be transcribed below, fear not.**

 **Mpopl2: Well, here goes. No more time skips from here forwards.**

 **Samateus-Taal: Abathur is the ultimate perfectionist. If it can be improved, he WILL improve it or destroy it. Sarah's touch will be explained in the end, and I'm pretty sure you won't guess why it's there. Zagara only let Dehaka leave because Kerrigan left orders to let him go. The two despise each other, since Dehaka doesn't have absolute loyalty to Kerrigan, and he's a primal, which the zerg see as inferior.**


	9. Chapter 9: Answer the call

Yttrius picked up on the slightest psionic call. It must have travelled many billions of miles to reach him, as he was currently waiting in Auir's warp array for deployment. It was faint, very, very faint. He doubted all but the most receptive of non-purifiers on the planet would notice the call.

'Dehaka..!'

And in that instant, he'd gone from keeping a watchful eye on his fellow zealots, to a sprint towards the executor Rohana. She was overlooking the entire area from a balcony, operating a computer.

Rohana looked up from her console as Yttrius scaled the side of her plaform to save time with the stairs. "What are you doing?!" She called, taking a step back and drawing her ceremonial blade in defence.

"I do not mean to alarm, preserver, but I must request immediate permission to seek out a target. I will require a ship with good tracking capabilities and a crew able to scan the surrounding systems in every way possible. Failing that, I must have an immediate audience with the Terran Emperor." Yttrius said.

Rohana dispelled her blade. "What is your reason? We are not in true war, but I cannot simply grant you such things."

"I have detected a trace signal of a distress call. It is of the utmost importance it is answered, of the war may well turn against us. The call belongs to Casa Terra, the terran who was famously covered in my reports. I believe she is imperiled and in need of allies. If she falls into the hands of our enemy..." Yttrius warned.

Rohana nodded. "How would you prove this?"

"It was a psionic call that must have travelled for billions of light-years. At least half of the Terran dominion should have heard it, but the chances they will understand it's meaning or origin is slim. Check the Terran news networks."

Rohana turned to her console. It was, like many Protoss creations, somewhere between art and equipment. A pylon had been restructured experimentally on a micro-level to form a self-powering computer, and had an ionic alloy woven into it to massively boost range of communication. While even psionics need time to travel, they could bend the rules of reality just enough to allow a solid internet speed to other planets. Rohana brought up the UNN site. The top headline was 'Mysterious calling'.

"There is no time to waste. In the name of the firstborn, I am giving you emergency access to this ship." Rohana indicated to a docked cruiser on her console. "It has weapons and cloaking capabilities, and can warp, but be warned that such a small vessel will not fare well in direct combat. I'm assigning a crew now, it can hold ten warriors in stasis and provide a living quarters for three. Currently, we only have a few units available for immediate deployment, so you will have to make do with eight zealots and two void rays for stasis troops. For crew, you may take two adepts and a dark templar. En taro Artanis, and make haste. I will notify the hierarch."

"En Taro Artanis. In the name of the purifiers, I will not fail in my duty." Said Yttrius, jumping off the platform as his assigned crew converged on the ship.

* * *

Dehaka had been even further from Casa, and her call had not reached him. He was currently observing the system he was in, looking for any good planets to land on. He was feeling pretty good, as it was. He'd slain a powerful feral zerg a few days ago, and was enjoying the ability to project a dark swarm around himself. The ship had a nice stock of essence, the spawning pools were good and virile, everything was just in good order. He could make some great changes.

He activated the radio, listening for any reports of dangerous zerg in the area. Nothing was relevant today, the only story seemed to be one about a mysterious call. 'We still have to identify the source of the call, and thus far emperor Valerian has been uncharacteristically closed to us about the knowledge. This all begs the question- just what is a 'Dehaka?'.'

Dehaka whirled to stare at the radio. Someone had called out for him? But he was barely known to the Terran public... He'd never fought in the showy battles of the End war, mainly acting to infiltrate key areas. Regardless, the story now had his full attention.

After much waiting through speculation, some more information came through. 'For all you viewers who missed it, the standard time was five thirty when a huge portion of the Terran population heard the voice of a girl crying out 'Dehaka', in panic, or perhaps fear? It is currently unknown whether this was a natural phenomenon, a co-ordinated prank, or something more sinister. We urge anyone who has concrete knowledge to step forth.'

Dehaka turned the Behemoth around. There was only one terran female who would call his name in panic.

* * *

Casa gradually woke. Where was she? Her stomach rumbled, almost painfully. She really needed food.

"Doctor, the subject has woken."

Casa focused on the voice. Probably a girl? She just felt really tired...

"Good work, ms. Lawrence. Go and watch the other one, we want to make sure they are not conscious at the same time if they can communicate. Now." This voice was different. It sounded like an older man.

Casa was mustering the energy to look around. She was inside some kind of glass tube. Her hands and feet were locked in place with iron bars. A few plastic ties had been wrapped around her tails.

"Bioweapon, if you have any consciousness, speak now. In compliance with the UED ethics, we will supply an anaesthetic before our ghosts analyse your mind, to minimize pain before death. A waste, if you ask me, but public opinion says we must."

"Hungry..." Casa croaked. "Need... food."

"Oh, the W-M-D that sent fifty thousand men and women to the sickbay with ringing ears is _hungry?_ Look here you monster. We're going to kill you for what you've done. Did you know, when we were defining our laws on animal cruelty at the last Geneva convention, we made a specific clause for you zerg abominations, after seeing what you did to DuGalle's fleet. Anything goes. Any. Thing. Even if I do have to make it so you don't feel a thing when we rip your memories out, by that point you will have felt enough pain for everyone you hurt!"

Casa felt like her mind was full of putty, but was still able to think. "Wait... have... information..." She could feel herself starting to black out again.

"Doctor, her activity is dropping again. She needs energy, she's no good dead." Oh... was... was that the first one?

"Fine. Have the delivery boy bring up a ready meal. Don't bother preparing it, these damn zerg'll eat anything that moves."

"Yes sir. Do you need coffee?"

"Aye."

Casa held on for a few minutes of silence, she was aware that whoever the scientist was, they hadn't left the room. The gentle tapping of a keyboard meant that there was probably someone else in here, too. She heard the door open.

"Okay, doctor. Here's your coffee, strong as they can make it. And also, the delivery boy had the bright idea of just giving her the leftovers from that horrible stew on Thursday, better than just wasting it."

"Oh, thank whatever gods there are for coffee. Don't know how I'd handle all this stupid legislation without it. Get that food in there, don't die, you know the drill."

"Yes sir."

Casa could hear the hiss of an air seal being broken. There was a clang by her feet, and the smell of meat and spices.

The assistant called in. "Pork and apple stew, but some idiot tipped a whole jar of cinnamon into it. It's already the most hated recipe we have, so guess how that went down?"

Casa tried to reach down, and her bonds clicked, letting her hands and knees move. Realising how small her containment cell was, she crouched and picked up the saucepan, and simply tipped the contents back like a cold drink. Some apple sauce ended up on her face but she was so hungry she outright didn't care. Even then, the taste of cinnamon was overpowering. Whatever meat was in this tasted like it had been through three different alien invasions, too. Still, it had a lot of useful energy.

Casa dropped the pan. "Thank." She mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, I'm going to turn on a Psi-screen for this room, so be warned that if you try and blow everything up it wont work too well. Pretty obvious that we need it if you were the one who called out for help. Oh, and by the way... Actually, nevermind. I'll just stay here. More coffee, doctor?"

"Just bring the jar and the kettle up. If the cook gives you any funny looks just tell them to shut up, and that it's an official order."

An hour passed as Casa was revitalised by the stew. She had been standing still, pretending to sleep while her body broke down the food. Eventually, she opened her eyes.

"Doctor, she's up. Hey, you are a she, right? There's one hell of a betting pool among the marines right now."

"Hey there." Said Casa. "I'm a girl."

The assistant stepped back. "Well hot damn, you can talk properly. And I'm 200 credits richer."

The doctor pushed her aside. "None of your gambling here, Ms. Lawrence. You. Information, now."

"About what?"

"What are you? I want to know exactly what you are, and everything you know about the facilities that created you. And bear in mind, that if I don't like what I hear, then I'll execute you here and now."

Lawrence looked at the doctor sideways. "He means, we will almost certainly know if you lie, because we have been able to get some information off Dominion networks."

"I'm Casa. I was a terran, but then I got really hurt, so I had to have my body changed into this. I was back on mom's planet, but she won't tell me the name. And I got changed on Char. I'm a zerg, but a special one. I... don't really know much more about that. I know other stuff though!"

"Ugh. Well, confirmed zerg, confirmed sentient... Do you have a hivemind?" grumbled the doctor.

"...I think I do. Why?" Casa didn't think her answer through at all.

"Lawrence. Go dig up the old files on the cerebrates and Overmind. We have some work to do."

* * *

Yttrius was making a panicked dash towards UED airspace. His active crew were mainly trying to make sure the ship stayed cloaked and away from any kind of warp anomalies.

The dark Templar, a relatively newly qualified one, was sitting perfectly tranquil in the centre of the ship. To the unknowing observer, it would have appeared they were meditating, or even sleeping, but in truth he was channelling the void to hide the ship from sight. It was not a flawless act, but it would certainly be enough to keep a basic scan from finding them.

The first adept was having a tough time identifying warp rifts as they travelled. When you cross a distance that should take you trillions of years in a few hours, reality tends to throw a hissy fit, and try to collapse you into a pinhead or expunge you from the timestream. It was her job to make sure that didn't happen. Mainly by screaming "Rift opening to our left! Slow down! The particle drives are overloading, set them to vent! Yttrius, stop trying to go faster!"

The second adept was trying desperately to make sure the 'engine' didn't break down. While a protoss engine wasn't driven by controlled explosions like a terran one, it was still capable of wearing out under extreme circumstances. This defined extreme.

Yttrius was guiding the ship carefully, while also trying to plan for what could have happened to Casa. Had Dehaka attacked her? Had she been attacked, and called for Dehaka? Was she isolated, the loneliness driving her mad? Was she even still alive?

* * *

Reigel was holding a video conference with Valerian and Matthew. He'd heard the call clearly, and it was driving him sick with worry. But he was not going to betray his fear to Valerian. He had to make a difference, and that meant getting additional troops to secure a rescue mission.

"Emperor. I wish to propose a plan, and fill you in on the significance of the call earlier."

"We believe it was a call for help by Casa, your daughter. Is that what you came to say? And what is your plan?" Asked Valerian.

"You are correct... that was her voice. I'm planning to mount a three-stage operation to evaluate exactly what happened there, and whether it is possible to extract either Casa or Nova, or at least wipe their memories to prevent valuable information being leaked. Here." Reigel pulled up a holo display of the space around the UED fleet. "I can move a sizeable force in through this blind spot that Nova engineered. Once on board, we'll need to find out exactly where they're being held, and free... or... end each of them simultaneously. All this, I can do with my forces. But I will need some additional help. Do you see this?" Reigel indicated towards a map of the inside of a UED flagship. "If there is any breach detected, a sector will lock itself down, and hard. Once we interact with the targets, we'll need a large distraction in order to cut through the doors that are in our way. I need you to attack them."

Valerian sat and sighed. "It's not an easy choice... But we have to move quickly, or the UED will have a huge weapon against us. I've kept some semblance of peace, even with this, but if the UED learns how to attack my planets, or even derives new technology from those two, then it'll be a return to the war we all hoped we left behind. The people just aren't ready for that. Reigel. Can you swear that if it comes down to a choice, you'll put the dominion before your family?"

"Yes."

 **Author's notes: And thus, we have our Terran commander of the story, Reigel! Not much I can personally comment on, here, but things should heat up soon.**

 **Mpopl2: Stukov will definitely get an important part to play in this, but not just yet.**

 **Samateus-Taal: Dehaka, and Yttrius, and Reigel will be together for this one. Each was meant to represent archetypes that weren't co-op commanders (Primal, Purifier, Information expert), but then Talandar got announced, so yeah. I look forwards to seeing any art.**


	10. Chapter 10: Triple threat

Yttrius dropped out of warp speed, just outside the range of the UED fleet. Any closer and scans could pick them up through a cloak.

The first adept recoiled from the console, and shouted "We survive!"

The second staggered out of the engine room. "All systems are functional. However, I advise at least twelve hours to allow for atomic restabilisation of the warp drives. Dark templar, are you still well?"

The dark templar stood. "I await my target, executor."

Yttrius brought up a display of the area "Mounting a mission here will not be easy... as the primary base of this force, it will be subject to many scans around sensitive areas. We are templar, but a frontal assault will achieve nothing. If we are found, our target will be dispatched. I will help you infiltrate, dark templar. I will connect myself to thier network, and initiate an overload. This will take the scanners offline. You must then locate our target, this being." He displayed Casa. "Once you have her location, call us. We will overwhelm the area's guards in a shock attack, and evacuate you. Clear?"

"Clear... Move me to edge of the fleet."

"Gladly. Adun Toridas, brave one."

As the Dark templar began his travels through the enemy fleet and Yttrius established a connection to the UED network, an elite Dominion squadron was soaring through the stars.

* * *

Reigel looked at his path long and hard. Computer-plotted, since the gaps were so erratic, and the results of months of work by Nova and Casa, slowly altering the scanner system. He turned to the crew behind him. Three ghosts, five elite marines, and himself. The best of the best. "Alright, this will be a bumpy ride- brace yourselves. Equipment checks. Vantage systems? Cloaking drives? EMP? Guard breakers?"

"All green, sir. Our information control will guide us to victory." Said a ghost.

Reigel gripped a sidebar. "Excellent. Entering scan gap now."

The ship slid in through the radar, to the hull of the flagship.

* * *

Dehaka was going for a more direct approach. The Behemoth was going to make a manouvre that would solidly classify as insane. Dehaka had debated just leaving Casa to solve her own problem, considering the risk to his own life, but soon shook it off, realising that if Casa were to die, not only would the time and care he'd invested into her be lost, but the essence it would translate to as well. In fact, doing this would grant him some essence anyway. Unless she was stuck under a large rock or something.

The Behemoth locked on to Casa's signature. It had some great sensitivity for psionics, to Abathur's credit. Dehaka readied his plan to infiltrate. Constant adaptation had given rise to a flexible defence system in The Behemoth. Green jelly of sorts was produced to be used as a drop pod for zerg that needed gravity and a floor to move. In the vacuum of space, the outside formed a frosty shell that could absorb light fire, and would weather entry to an atmosphere, while the insides were well-cushioned against the impact when the sphere of frozen jelly smashed into a planet at several hundred miles per hour.

Dehaka loaded himself into a bag of jelly. It was a good thing he only needed to breathe to speak, and occasionally to refuel some of his organs. Thirty minutes would be fine. The Behemoth picked up speed, and loaded three blobs of jelly. One with Dehaka and a few zerglings, one with some roaches and hydralisks, and one with a couple of drones. Now for the crazy part.

Normally, the drop bags would just be released into a planet's gravitational field, but the systems supplying artificial gravity to the flagship didn't create any external pull. So Dehaka needed a way to get the blob from around twenty thousand kilometres away, to the hull. That was why the Behemoth was travelling at full non-warp speed, directly at the flagship. The distance was closing rapidly, as the three blobs were exposed. And then, the Behemoth warped, but without taking the blobs. They continued forwards in the vacuum of space, straight for the UED's ship.

Dehaka watched the outside of his blob immediately freeze under zero pressure, feeling a slight tug on his throat as the pressure inside lessened. His plan had been put together at a moment's notice, but it had the theory in place. The worst thing that could happen would be if he missed. He'd be stuck going through space at only supersonic speeds for however long his reserves of energy would last. Even in hibernation he wouldn't be able to live for millions of years. To his relief, only the second worst thing possible happened: Automatic defences. Just as the ship was coming into view, a dozen interception missiles were fired at each blob. With no way to interact with them, Dehaka watched the four designated for him home closer, closer... He braced for impac-

Sound and shockwaves do not travel in space. They do travel through green jelly. The blast instantly liquefied most of Dehaka's insides, save for the absolute most well-protected parts of his body. However, the missiles had hit in a perfect ring, so he wasn't popped. The goo still coated him, and the explosion had not managed to slow him down.

Dehaka had a precious two minutes to try and repair as much of his insides as he could before impact. His brain and most of his digestive system were fine. The rest was not. Dehaka was desperately trying to break down what he could of the useless waste to fuel creaton of new cells, and it was going alright, but it hurt like nothing else and he could tell he'd have to sit down with something edible soon and rest to recover notable strength. Then he hit the side of the ship.

The jelly stuck him there, as the impact forced him to cough up most of himself. The mixture of purplish flesh and black blood splattered against the hull, but Dehaka still clung to life, just. Much more head trauma would probably split his skull, aside from the fact his injuries only barely let him move. Hungry, every cell injured within a fraction of death, all but three bones broken, and having lost half his weight Dehaka started to crawl for an entry point.

* * *

Yttrius watched as the dark templar picked his way through the ships, accessing files on the initiate's performances thus far to try and find any useful extra talents. Apparently he had quite the combat record, often defeating dedicated warriors in training by only blade skill, but his mastery of void energy left much to be desired. The only thing that was really unique about him was his weapon, a handheld psi-sword. Based on Terran designs for something called a lightsaber. Apparently the weapon allowed him to exercise more skill in combat at the expense of shabby defence. Inferior to psi-blades, but perhaps useful for catching enemies off guard...

The dark templar weaved through hallways, past many marines, before stopping. He opened communications. "There is a psi-screen ahead that covers a whole ship. It would be best to deactivate it, so we can scan the area."

An adept looked to Yttrius. "It could be holding something. These Terrans clearly have little enough regard for their lives as to fight us, so trying to do stupid things like anomaly drives isn't out of the question."

Yttrius shook his head "Permission granted nonetheless. It would take far too long to manually search that vessel."

"I will strike at the target." Replied the dark templar.

* * *

Reigel's ghosts were scouting the area. The docking bays lacked stealth detection, but they absolutely teemed with guards and UED soldiers. The small carrier of elite troops had jammed itself into a corner, while Reigel looked at his computer. Transmission now would be picked up by the UED, but that particular sword was double-edged. Reigel was listening to the transmissions of half the fleet, expertly picking out important ones. But the message he needed was that the Dominion were attacking. It hadn't yet come.

* * *

Dehaka reached a missile slot. His bones had knitted back together enough for him to move, and most of what was left of him had reconstituted. He'd even found that his skull had actually fractured externally upon impact, before mending it as best he could. It was hard going, but the missile slot presented an access point.

Dehaka slowly pulled himself into the bay. It was just a small tube for weapons to be launched from, and unfortunately it was loaded. A bright red cap of a bomb was blocking Dehaka's access to the inside of the ship. Weakly, he dug a claw into the side, and began to lever it off. After a while, the plastic popped away, floating off into space. Dehaka shuffled through the gap, into the loading mechanism.

He could see a room before him. It had racks of ammunition for the missile launchers of the ship, extending in a curve all along the deck. It was currently unmanned. Perhaps the launchers were automatic? The whole area had no atmosphere or gravity, and meager lighting. Dehaka climbed onto the ceiling. No chance of security cameras there. Then he waited. He was in no state to take on anyone at the moment... he turned to his side, and without hesitation, bit off his left arm, While inefficient, the extra nutrients in his system were enough to fix what was needed. The muscles in his right, and his legs. He tensed, waiting.

The doors opened. A grey-suited marine was halfway through when Dehaka pounced from the ceiling, driving a claw through the marine's helmet. Death was instant.

* * *

The dark templar was already near the psi-screen's room. The main problem was that it was under highly competent guard. Or maybe something had put them on alert? Either way, it wouldn't be easy to take on three armed guards alone. And he simply wasn't good enough at channelling the void to blink into the guarded room.

"Yttrius. How should I proceed?"

No response came, thanks to the screen. Having eliminated any other choices, he moved behind the central two guards, psi sword in hand but unignited. And then the radio crackled on an officer's uniform.

'Dominion are attacking! I repeat, Dominion are attacking! Cease the search for private Ross, all non-security units are to report to the hangar for immediate deployment!'

A guard looked to his captain worriedly. "Sir... What should we do?"

"We have to stay here. With an unknown hostile on board, and our forces in the field, we're vulnerable. Damn this timing."

"Timing, sir?"

"That thing, that we saw get Ross... it was clearly a zerg. They don't take orders, as best we know. God knows how it got aboard, but if it goes for anything important we have to kill it. Reed, what's the status of our hunt?"

The marine known as Reed started to walk towards his superior officer, and the dark templar struck. His blade flashed, cutting all three guards in half with a single swing. He turned to the door, and started hacking at the lock. The neosteel gave way quickly enough.

Inside was a large glass cabinet full of servers, connected to a huge domed machine. One slice, and the screen was no more.

* * *

Reigel's team jumped out of the ship the second the bay was empty. As they charged through the corridors, the three ghosts suddenly snapped to attention. "Commander Reigel! The psi-screen has been disabled. We can sense other psionics here."

"Get me Nova and Casa's location. Marines, cover that opening, in case security shows up."

"Nova's in the brig. Casa's near the heart of the ship. Sir, we'll only have time for one..."

"Damn. We move for Casa first, she's our priority. We'll try and backtrack for Nova if we can throw the UED off our trail. Is the EMP prototype still working?" Asked Reigel.

"Prototype is working. The area's cameras are currently offline."

A few guards rounded the corner, into a few well-placed bullets. The elites pressed on for Casa's room.

* * *

Dehaka was almost done eating what was left of the hapless technician. About half his body weight had been restored, but he lacked some of the compounds he needed to properly regrow. Still, they hadn't been too bad...

He looked around for a way to move through the ship unnoticed. There was no air ventilation, obviously. The walls were neo-steel, and unlikely to conceal any secret path. But he couldn't move predictably. This missile chamber had one door. It likely already had marines on the other side. So Dehaka looked to the floor beneath him, neat square panels. Five seconds later, he'd ripped one of them off, torn through the wiring in the floor and dropped down to the floor below.

Now to get crafty. He moved to the corner of the identical room and pried up another panel, digging a hole in the metal. He turned and opened the airlock doors, leaving his false trail. The first thing he looked for in the airlock, and subsequently the corridor were security cameras. They were everywhere. Wide-lens things that each covered most of a corridor. So stealth was going to fail, hard. In that case, it was a matter of outrunning his hunters. He'd done enough of that to know what to do.

Take paths they can't, like the wall. Dehaka didn't know which room he'd burst into, but the occupants (justifiably) screamed as a 150-kilo injured primal zerg broke through the wall, and then continued through. Dehaka planned his path, moving with the thickest cable he could find in the walls. It had to lead to the power supply, and no power meant no cameras.

Freya Jo-Miller Lawrence, PhD, was a woman who had seen the rougher parts of life. She'd had a youth with a single father who worked himself fourteen hours a day. She'd been involved with gang violence from an early age, and still scraped her way through life with good grades in biology, and paying for university with money she stole from her own gang boss. She would have confidently said there was nothing that could scare her anymore after the risks she'd taken. None of that prepared her for this particular thursday. When the emergency alarms were sounded to signal important staff back to the nearest secure area (or as the instructor had put it: Find a good spot to pray), she'd been nowhere near a safe room. But for moment, she could have sworn she saw a golden angel in the corner of her eye, pointing to the kitchen. Inside had the kitchen's walk-in refrigerator. At least, in the event of assassins boarding the ship, they probably wouldn't check the refrigerator. She was right- instead, the infiltrator came through the floor of the room, knocking her off her feet. The assailant nearly barreled out of the room without stopping, but then froze, halfway through opening the door, and glared at Freya. Fear paralysed her.

"Terran. Where is the one I seek?" Said Dehaka.

Freya blanked in panic. "Who?!"

Dehaka walked over, and painfully pressed the sharp edge of a larger claw to her chest. "The zerg that I smell on you... It could only have come from her."

Everything clicked. "Casa is being held in lab one, near the centre of the vessel. Dehaka, don't kill me. I kept her alive, Dehaka!" Freya had no plans to die for her cause.

"Be thankful time is short for me." Dehaka moved his claw off Freya's chest, running out of the room. As he left, he ripped an unmarked box of some kind of chicken-based food off a shelf, devouring it without even opening it as he ran.

Freya picked herself up, and started fumbling for her radio.

* * *

Casa was only aware the psi-screen was down because the marine assigned to guard her was a total incompetent. When he received his warning that he was now in a room with someone capable of tearing the ship in half, he very loudly screamed 'WHY WASN'T THE SCREEN GUARDED, THEN?'

"I'm right here, you know." Said Casa innocently.

The marine grasped his rifle, pointing it at Casa's holding tank. "Screw whatever the doc says, I ain't sitting in the same room as a live nuke!"

Casa pointed at him, and crushed him flat with her telekinetic powers. Not a particularly efficient way to kill, but the first that came to mind. She then moved a tail around and neatly cut the front off her tank. It fell to the floor with a thunk. Then she started to stretch it to cut away her bonds, eventually freeing herself.

In a matter of minutes, the UED's situation had gone from a normal day to a full-blown disaster.

 **Author's notes: Uploads have been greatly slowed for a while because of upcoming exams, and they'll still be slow for a while. The exams end halfway through next month. But I won't abandon ANY of my stories.**

 **The break-in of the UED ship will span more than one chapter, as you can see. And some explanation as to just how Dehaka survived that collision: From what I've seen of his abilities, he's quite resistant to shock damage, and blunt weapons. Also, he only needs his brain in order to stay alive, so as long as nothing can penetrate his skull or cut off blood supply, he won't die. If there was a surefire way to kill him, I'd say decapitation would be easiest. Still hard, of course.**

 **Reigel as a co-op style commander would be all about information, playing a more supportive role than frontline armies like Kerrigan. He passively has an increased vision radius on all units, and recieves warnings of enemy attack sooner. Aside from that, he can empower allies by increasing thier research rate, and having detection built into many of his units.**

 **Mpopl2: Okay, hear me out- A seige tank, mounted on Stukov's apocalisk. And the whole thing has a giant Terran flag on the front.**

 **Samateus-Taal: Blizzard, the only game company that is literally so good their fans can't keep up.**


	11. Chapter 11: Escape artists

Chapter 11

Nova was sitting in the brig, nearly sick with worry. She'd long since been trained to know detection was the end of a ghost's life, but her real regret was taking Casa with her. If only she'd not been so overconfident...

Her thoughts swired deeper and deeper into despair over her mistakes, conflicting with themselves at every other point. And then Nova's thoughts stopped, and were replaced by a single, well-trained _wait_.

There was suddenly a psionic presence in front of her.

"Hold! If you're infiltrating this ship... free me, and I'll help you!" She called to the cloaked presence. Had another ghost gone rogue? Either way, the security had left earlier...

The dark templar shimmered. "You are not my target... but you seem to have a friend in my executor." His psi-sword flashed, and the steel plate that made up one wall fell away.

Nova stared incredulously. "I didn't expect to see protoss here. But who would your executor be? No matter. I'll follow his commands for now- we're both after Casa, right?"

"Yttrius. Now cloak yourself and do not interfere if you are not needed." The Dark templar faded back to obscurity.

* * *

"Sir, Nova has escaped her confinement. Another signature is with her." Said a marine.

Reigel loaded a particularly heavy slug, and blew a wheel-sized chunk out of a security guard. "This is advantageous, but if things get much more chaotic then we're going to have to be more careful. We don't know if they're executing her or if she's actually escaped. What's Casa's situation? And what's the radio news?"

A ghost focused. "Casa has moved a little, but her signature is weak. I think she's low on power but outside her cell. Radio news is that the unidentified zerg has totaled almost thirty kills, but it's fallen off radar near Casa's area and hasn't been seen for almost five minutes."

Reigel sighed "It's Dehaka. Let's hope he's not going to hold a grudge if we run into him. Alright, men. If Dehaka resurfaces alive, we change direction for Nova. He'll buy us time for Casa, but I'll be damned if I let my wife just die without a second thought."

"Sir!" Confirmed his units.

* * *

Dehaka was not hiding in the ventilation. It was too small. He was actually eating his way through three kills and recovering his strength while inside a storage closet. His left arm was nearly finished, and he'd reconstituted almost all his systems. He'd never been more thankful for the ability to heal quickly with access to food, although a few other times from Zerus came close.

He patiently watched his new set of glaivelike claws emerge. Okay, that was about enough. He carefully listened at the door for a moment. Nothing like running headlong into a trap to get yourself killed. Okay, that smell was definitely explosive. He turned to the wall and ripped a hole in it.

To his surprise, Casa was waiting on the other side, four dead guards around her. Her face immediately lit up.

"Dehaka!" She squeaked, jumping at him and hugging him aroud the neck. "You came to save me! Come with me, I think Mom is still alive and I want to rescue her!"

Dehaka could feel something wet and sticky against his chest. Blood. "You are... bleeding. Eat. Heal yourself."

Casa looked at the wound. It was a gunshot that had gotten through her barrier and cracked her carapace. She looked around, wondering if Dehaka had seen something edible she hadn't before realising just how much _terran_ blood was on his face. "But... I can't eat them for biomass! We're the same race? But... I guess you eat other zerg all the time... NO. Nope, no. I'll just go to the canteen. Follow me!"

Dehaka grabbed her by the arm. "No, stay behind me. I will not die to bullets. Your sentimantality will get you killed. Reconstitute a tail as we escape if you cannot feed."

Casa was about to protest until she recognised the hint of frustration in Dehaka's voice. It was the same one that involved harsh lessons. "Okay. Let's... let's go."

Dehaka kicked open the door and was shot in the chest twice. The bullets sunk into his flesh like BB pellets into plastecine, and then the guards were ripped apart.

* * *

Reigel and his marines converged on Nova's position. One of the security guards got a lucky shot and an elite marine's right hand was broken off, but with Reigel's EMP active they couldn't locate his team to focus them with guards.

A ghost signalled for Reigel's attention. "Sir, Nova is nearby. I'm detecting another psionic with her, but they seem friendly."

"Let her know we're here. Marines, cover our backs, we'll be backtracking after this." Reigel ordered.

Nova shimmered into existence next to her husband "Looking for someone?" She smiled.

Reigel grinned "Looks like you're one step ahead, Nova. Who's your friend?"

"He's a dark templar. I didn't catch his name, but he works for Yttrius. Come on, we need to move for Casa. Got a spare rifle?" Nova asked.

Reigel turned to the crippled marine. "You. Your gauss cannon. Take a handgun from a fallen guard if you feel stable."

The marine quickly handed his gun over, and scooped up the comparatively tiny pistol from a fallen guard.

"Alright everyone. We move for Casa."

* * *

Dehaka had, after his recent self-healing, had a slight iron deficiency. He was sure that with the amount that was buried in his front right now, that he was a victim of irony. He would need some time to pick out all these bullets later... although for some reason the guards were reluctant to shoot when he pulled one in close to him with his tongue. Maybe it was a sentimentality thing. Dehaka was doing all he could to keep the guards off their trail, he kept going forwards but often went through the floor, or a wall, or the ceiling, throwing debris into the holes with his strength.

Casa was restricted to melee combat, but she was deadly. More than once did she instinctively cut bullets out of the air with her many tails, and it didn't take much psionic power to perform lethal jumps to close gaps. Still, her stomach was rumbling, and she had to admit the numerous corpses they were leaving behind were starting to look very appetizing... _No, I don't want to do that!_ She told herself. Even though her stomach was starting to protest nonstop. Eventually they broke into a bedroom with a small potted plant in the corner. Casa took one look and immediately shoved a branch into her mouth, ripping off a second one to eat in the next ten seconds. Her stomach shut up, to her relief.

"Dehaka, how are we going to get off the ship... how did you get on?" Asked Casa, as they ran down a corridor.

"I launched myself at the hull. My Behemoth will pick us up once we are far enough away from the ship." Dehaka explained.

Casa looked confused "How are we going to get far away? We can't just jump out of the airlock!"

"We will board a terran ship. We do not need to learn to use it, your psionics can throw us." Dehaka reasoned.

Casa tried to guage how much power she had. Not much. "I need more food for that!"

Dehaka growled. "I would have thought you would grow out of this..." He hacked up a lump of half-digested meat into a hand, and passed it to Casa. "Do not think. Just eat."

Casa grimaced, and swallowed it, trying as hard as she could not to think about it. They kept running, thankful that the ship's guards seemed to be almost token forces for whatever reason.

Before long, they were at the edge of the ship. It was just a matter of getting off. Casa gasped for breath, and tried to say something. No luck, due to no atmosphere on the missile deck, but at least her zerg lungs didn't explode from lack of pressure.

Dehaka looked left and right. Only missiles. He jumped onto the nearest one, and beckoned Casa over. He gave a pointed glare to the space ahead.

Casa took a deep breath of nothing, and gave an almighty shove to the missile.

It exploded.

* * *

"Sir, Casa's signature has reached the edge of the ship! And... she's just been badly wounded!" Said a ghost.

Reigel swore. "Damn! Were we too slow?!"

"No giving up!" Interjected Nova. "Hey, dark templar? Can Yttrius give us anything helpful?"

"...Not for now. We must simply move."

"You heard them! Get going, men!" Ordered Reigel.

* * *

Casa's vision started to come back into focus. What happened...? Oh, right, there was an... explosion... oh, she was so tired... She started to shut her eyes, and then, by sheer ingenuity of design from Abathur, a surge of adrenaline hit and warded off the incoming coma. Casa didn't yet realise how bruised she was after getting slammed against the ceiling, and stiffly looked around. There was a gaping hole where the missile had been. Dehaka was nowhere to be found. She stumbled towards the hole, but collapsed before reaching it.

The first person to reach her with a working vacuum-proofed suit immediately felt a rush of fear. Was it really going to be this easy? The test subject that could kill a man with their mind, just... there? Doctor Freya's mind was one of a wary girl. She didn't dash out of the airlock into a potential trap, she checked the safety on her gun was off, and checked side to side, before stepping into the missile bay. Casa's unconscious form was starting to drift towards the hole that had been blown in the ship. Quickly and professionally, she checked Casa's pulse, before picking up the unconscious girl, slinging her over one shoulder and clicking her radio on.

"Admiral, I have the escaped subject. Rescuer appears to have abandoned them. Requesting permission to execute." She said calmly.

"Negative! We won't get another research chance like this for a long time." Crackled the reply.

"Admiral, if she recovers while in transition..."

* * *

"I said NEGATIVE!" Yelled Reigel. "Disobey this order, and I swear the punishment will make every marine on the ship resign! AM I CLEAR?!"

"...Clear, sir. I'll move her to her cell."

Reigel closed the intecepted channel, having reached the airlock with his team. "Alright, target will exit this airlock shortly. Do not use lethal force, because she will be holding my daughter."

The airlock opened, and Freya was unknowingly surrounded on all four sides by ghosts. Reigel simply clicked his fingers, and the doctor instantly found herself with her charge two metres out of reach, arms locked behind her back and gun to her head.

"S**t." She said in a monotone. "Make it quick?"

Reigel looked to Nova. "Do you recognise her?"

"Doctor Lawrence. Somewhat more tolerable than the rest of the staff. Kill her."

The dark templar raised a hand. "Hold. I advise you look into her memory for useful information."

Nova rasied a hand. "Well, I'll give it a shot." A short bolt of blue electricity jumped from her hand to Freya's eye. She screamed and buckled over.

"Damn you! Damn You, Damn you! I hope you get what you deserve!" She screamed.

"Aww, did it hurt when I fried your left eye?" mocked Nova. "Unfortunately... I guess I owe you for earlier. Now, this'll only hurt a bit." She zapped Freya again, this time in the chest. The doctor collapsed. "She'll be comatose for about a day, maybe a bit of memory loss on the side. Let's get out of here."

* * *

In space, the battle was going badly for the Dominion. While no serious tactical errors had been committed on either side, the UED fleet had simply outnumbered the dominion from the start, and while the Dominion commander was no slouch, there's only so much you can do when you're against superior numbers. He just couldn't keep the more mobile enemies off the medivacs, and his battecruisers were having to warp far more often than was technically safe.

Eventually, as it became clear his forces were all on the brink of collapse, the commander simply sighed and broadcast a simple command: 'Retreat operation 2'.

In shaky unison, the ships pulled back, the survivng battlecruisers warding off any overly opportunistic UED forces. After a few tense minutes of hoping the UED didn't have a hidden trick up thier sleeves, the two sides disengaged.

While the Dominion fleet was relieved to be allowed out relatively intact, they weren't sure why the UED had decided not to chase them.

In truth, the UED fleet was currently being bombarded with orders from their admiral about a severe breach on board their flagship that was absolutely tearing apart the security. So, all the army converged on the flagship.

* * *

Dehaka's leviathan materialised around him. He felt the air rush into his chest, and roared in frustration. He had been so close! He'd taken his biggest risk since siding with Kerrigan, and hadn't achieved what he was after. He refocused after a moment, and moved for the nerve centre. His options now were fairly polar. Abandon Casa to fate, or try and help her more.

He reflected for a moment. Casa's strength had been growing all the time she was gone. He could just kill her and eat her now. Having psiblades on his tail would be handy. The psionics... were a bit too risky. Why not just kill her?

Because she was more and more like the Queen of Blades by the day. Her mannerisms and goals were completely different, but he was sure of it. She was slowly but surely approaching the inevitable fate of a psionic of her power: war, for or against the zerg. Zagara still hunted her, so probably the latter. And the essence to reap from that conquest... Dehaka would have drooled, but he didn't have any salival glands at the moment.

He decided. If she could get off that ship before he needed to leave, he would fly by and grab her for medical attention. If not, so be it.

* * *

Reigel's ghost paled. "Sir, our distraction has been forced to retreat."

Reigel swallowed. "Our ship is in the docking bay. It'll be seething with soldiers in minutes, and they'll have proper training and armor. We need to either find a place to hide or another way off... Any suggestions, make them now."

The dark templar spoke. "Our ship may be able to carry some more. Our executor looks favorably upon you, terrans."

Nova nodded. "No time to waste. Lead the way."

The first few minutes of jogging down the corridors were silent. Then they ran into the first squadron of soldiers, and all hell broke loose instantly. These were combat professionals plated in neosteel and carrying some form of gauss rifle, compared to the security with pistols and cloth uniform. It meant a world of difference when targets didn't go down in one shot. In only the first confrontation, Reigel lost two marines. And not three minutes later, more marines were hot an their trail, co-ordinted effectively and far more quickly than the guards. Nova used her best attempt at replicating her daughter's telekinesis with her mind, and successfully collapsed a corridor behind the party, cutting off a few squads, but the enemies just kept coming. It was like fighting a powerful zerg army. No matter where you turned, infantry were going to be directly in your face.

Reigel's forces dwindled fast, falling one after another. Nobody had spoken for minutes, fighting for their lives with every drop of the worn strength they had. A ghost went down, his mask cracking open. Another elite marine's armour finally gave up. Nova psionically blocked a shot as it slammed directly into Reigel's visor, chipping it before all the momentum could be drained.

The dark templar's sword flashed, his wrists were growing sore and his mind was beginning to fog from the constant focus of staying invisible. A few lucky shots had grazed his shields, just a few more and his flesh would be next. But still, he was dark templar. The title was not awarded to those of fragile determination. And then, a voice in his ear said 'Hold fast, your part has been played.'

Reigel nearly broke down crying in relief as a purifier rounded the corner, flanked by zealots. The current UED squadron was dessicated within the blink of an eye.

Yttrius' visor flashed. "Zealots, escort the terrans to our ship, and leave immediately. I will buy you time."

"You'll die!" said a surviving ghost.

"A purifier will never die. Go NOW." Commanded Yttrius. Another squad came into view, and he was upon them in an instant, raining blows and blocking bullets with surgical accuracy.

Nobody had it in them to protest as the zealots brought up the group's rear. They went through a few more corridors, and found a small circular hole cut into the ship's side, leading onto the protoss vessel.

A zealot looked back at the corridor, noting the army was still held back by Yttrius. "Onto the ship, now." She said plainly.

The family of three, and two exhausted ghosts climbed aboard, followed by their rescuers.

"Do we wait for Yttrius?" Said Reigel, to one of the zealots.

"No." he replied. "We will construct him a new body later. He may not remember the last fight, but the rest of his memory has been saved to the Cybros mainframe, as all purifiers are."

The adept who was now in charge of the ship prepared for takeoff, sealing the door on the side and detaching from the flagship's hull. She opened a few display interfaces, and neatly swerved her ship underneath the flagship, away from the incoming fleet. "How long until our warp is safe to use?" She called to the other adept.

"Atomic destabilization is at twenty percent, but it's not falling fast. We can warp, but the drive will simply dissociate into unbound molecules afterwards. Pick a destination we can reach quickly, maybe an eighth of the distance to Auir?" Replied the engineering adept.

"Set course for Braxis. We'll contact the Dominion from there." Suggested Nova.

Regiel looked at her "That world isn't well-guarded. It's a miracle the UED haven't taken it yet. We need some kind of quick place to stop and repair... wait, can we make it to the Dominion fleet?"

"We can't contact them to say we're friendly, and they'll be on high alert since your ship isn't with them." Countered Nova.

"We need to warp soon, or we'll be attacked!" Called the pilot adept.

"I know what to do." Said Casa quietly.

Her parents spun to face her. "You're awake! Oh, thank goodness!" Said Reigel. "What's your plan, daughter?"

"I've got a litte bit of energy left. If you let me near your warp drive's battery, I can power it up with psionic energy. We don't need to worry about the damage of overcharging it if it'll break after this anyway, right?" Said Casa.

"...Try it." Said the engineering adept. "Never expected the zerg to save me again. Come here, it's this demipylon. It won't be very efficient, but it can absorb raw psionic power."

Casa stood. "Anyone got any food? I'm going to need it."

Both ghosts pulled out silver packets. "Emergency rations. Hurry."

Casa ripped the tops off the packets and downed the powdery contents. It was literally just a bag of powdered carbohydrates and proteins, with no regard to flavor. Energy packed. "Okay, a minute to digest and I'll give it all I got!"

"We've been detected!" called the pilot.

"Alright, I'm going for it!" Yelled Casa. She placed her hands on the exposed power crystal and immediately projected as much raw power as possible. The crystal glowed white-hot with lethal levels of power, as the surrounding casing started to melt from the heat given off from power failed to convert.

"Warp!" shouted the engineer.

"Warping!" Shouted the pilot, twisting a red circle on the display.

There was a tremendous psionic crack as the ship generated a small supernova of wasted energy.

* * *

Dehaka couldn't sense Casa's exit, but the Behemoth filled him in. "Follow her." He commanded. The Behemoth obeyed, tracing the warp's signature.

* * *

The protoss vessel had not been destroyed by that exit. In fact, it was still airtight. However, it was like throwing a few men from a trebuchet and calling it the same as flying. The fabric of reality on board was tearing at the seams, especially around the engine. It's crystalline pylon battery was still giving off light comparable to a few kilos of burning magnesium, was vibrating vigorously, and most of all screaming like a banshee on helium.

The engineer ripped Casa's hands off the gem, and a liberal sprinkling of glowing dissolved pylon seared away some of the floor. The engine still didn't explode, thanks to Protoss ingenuity, but it decided that was enough abuse for one chunk of matter. The power crystal simply appeared to fold in on itself and vanish, taking a good chunk of the rest of the engine with it.

Casa sat down in shock, as the ship fell out of warp. "Did we make it?" She asked.

"No." Said the pilot. "We're about ten light years away from Mar Sara. I'm... sorry, brave warriors. This is an ignoble end."

"There's got to be something we can do!" cried an optimistic zealot. "If we all use telekinesis, maybe we can shift this? Or... what about a distress signal?"

Nova shook her head. "Telekinesis is hard. I'm an index ten ghost, and I can lift ninety kilos for twelve seconds. You protoss average an eight, don't you? We'd need millennia, and there's enough air stored on board for how long? As for a distress signal... without a proper FTL setup, it won't reach Mar Sara before the turn of the century."

"A week's worth of oxygen. And enough artificial light to feed us for three. No terran food..." Answered the pilot.

"...We could pray." Said Reigel.

"I don't have a better idea-" Said the engineer.

"Warp signature detected!" gasped the pilot. "By Adun, we're saved!"

The Behemoth materialised in front of the derelict ship. A psionic link established itself uninvited, on the main screen. An all too familiar reptilian face with many, many teeth and four eyes looked at the ship's occupants. "I am Dehaka. Protoss ship, return Casa to me."

"Dehaka, you're alive! Hi!" Said Casa.

Offscreen, Dehaka's tail made that involuntary flick. "Are you still surprised? Come. This will not be your end."

"Can I bring the others?" Asked Casa. "I mean, I'm not being sentimental here! They're useful!"

"...You will be responsible for them, as if they were your pack. Ensure they do not attack." Dehaka ended the communications.

A nydus canal extended to the front of the small vessel. It was able to swallow the ship, since it was able to just about transport an ultralisk. There was a rumbling as the beaten golden vessel was swallowed into Dehaka's Behemoth, and dumped into the loading chamber.

The engineer looked around the room with a disgusted expression, but light in her eyes. "You know, it seems our ships have a habit of getting within an inch of destruction with that zerg."

"Shush guys, follow me! I'll introduce you to Mr. Dehaka, but you have to act orderly for me!" Said Casa.

"Mr?" Questioned Nova.

"Oops, old habit. Just follow me, mom! And you, Protoss guys and gals." Said Casa, marching out of the chamber.

* * *

The reunion was this time held in Dehaka's chamber. The Protoss were standing with varying levels of professionalism, although not even the most zealous blamed the pair of steel-nerved adepts for simply sitting down and trying to calm themselves. The dark templar was sitting in silent meditation, clearing his mind. The Terra family were sitting around Dehaka, all exhausted.

Casa had been recounting her story. Eventually, she finished, and looked to Dehaka. "I'm so hungry I could eat a rock. Do you have any more essence you can spit up for me?" She said semi-jokingly.

"Casa! Gross!" Chided Nova, with a smile.

"We will find some on Mar Sara soon... Unless you really want it spat up? Not sure if that is what you want..." Said Dehaka, confused.

"I'm joking, silly! I'm just happy that we're all alive... uh, well, apart from Yttrius. But he'll get better!" Said Casa.

Reigel frowned "Jokes aside... There's one thing I don't understand. Why did you call for Dehaka in the first place? You could have just killed someone if they found you."

Casa stopped laughing. "I... I felt like someone else was taking control of me. I wanted to fight it, but it felt like a backdoor into my head that I couldn't guard, so I called for you in panic..."

Dehaka growled. "It is a hivemind. It must have been added when you were infested."

The group sat in silence as the implications sunk in.

 **Author's notes: I'm back, baby! And with the prelude to the last of the small arcs to this story, the hivemind arc. Sorry for the wait, but exams are over now, so I'll try and get this story back on the road! Hopefully this chapter feels better than the last one, the last one was rushed on my end.**

 **Mpopl2: Despite Casa being the centre of attention, I'd say Nova got out as one of the least hurt overall, nothing worse than her dignity. Thanks for the well-wishing, it was appreciated.**

 **Samateus-taal: Even if you're a 2000 year old apex predator, physics will still mess you up when given the chance. Dehaka actually nearly misjudged what he could do there, although nobody else knows it. Just a touch more of those brave adepts, but they're background characters.**

 **Howling din: I can confirm that people and animals have fear for a reason, and growing up sheltered, without any at all, can lead to someone with less regard for their own life than a baneling. Dehaka's speech is a little tricky, since properly conveying it requires a LOT of ...'s. I just try not to make him use words he wouldn't, like contractions and slang. Even if the idea itself wouldn't work, it did actually start the initial thought chain of 'I should add a character that forms a strong bond with Dehaka', that resulted in Casa. Don't forget, this story was originally intended to be a oneshot.**

* * *

Yttrius' blades stilled, the artificial fury behind them finally burned out. The corpses filled the corridor from all directions, perhaps three squadrons had been victim to the narrow corridor limiting their firepower. But nobody is invincible. His shields were gone. His body was scratched all over from bullets that had made glancing contact, and in his chest were a few dents and three punctures in his thick armor. His power core was irreparably damaged. And so, as the power flow to his memory lattice began to fade to nothing, Yttrius processed one last command. Self-destruct.

There was a huge explosion as his solarite core engaged uncontrolled nuclear fusion, even if he couldn't spawn a star with the fifteen grams of solarite in his heart, he could certainly take some foes with him. As the safety checker confirmed no other protoss were in range and disengaged the last safety lock, Yttrius was torn to powder along with perhaps a quarter of the ship. He had no regrets.


	12. Chapter 12: The event horizon

Mar Sara. While it had previously been a dusty old planet with only a few things of note, it was, after the end war, a moderately successful tourist destination. Modern history students, aspiring strategists, and regular old holidaymakers all wanted to come and visit the planet Raynor had called home.

Alongside tourism comes two things. Money, and tourists. And of course, both warrant protection. Mar Sara's orbital defence and air control platform had actually been a gift to the now missing Raynor from Valerian. Nova really wished he'd picked something that would make it easier to crash into the planet. She had been chosen to make the call to the planet's platform for landing permisson, as the only member of the group that didn't look like they'd been through hell.

"Mar Sara control. How can we help?" Asked a female operator. Then she saw the dishevelled Nova, and the fact the room behind her was alive. "... rough day, ma'am?"

"This is dominion mercenary Nova, requesting emergency permisson to land a leviathan on Mar Sara. Hurry." Said Nova.

The operator raised an eyebrow. "I don't have the authority to do that. How long can you hold position?"

"I have no idea, I'll ask the owner. Look, is your computer still running the same Id program it was a few months ago? Feed it the name November Terra, and then patch me through to Valerian. Oh, and if you don't want us to come down on Joey Ray's, then you'd better give us some better landing co-ordinates." Nova deadpanned.

The operator spent a minute calling over a superior and inputting the name. "Okay, patching you through... I'll get back to you with co-ordiates in a moment. Please be patient."

The psionic communicator changed to a milky white static. Nova looked confused.

Dehaka tapped the floor. "They only have sound."

"Valerian?" Asked Nova. "This is Nova"

"Nova! At last. What's your status?" Came the reply.

"We're in far orbit over Mar Sara, and we need to land. Our group consists of Myself, Reigel, Casa, a ghost, nine protoss and Dehaka. We are currently aboard his ship. All others were destroyed or rendered inoperable. I'll send a more detailed report later."

"My soldiers have already filled me in on what you've done to the UED. The main ship has been completely abandoned and they're breaking it down for parts, so good job. Aside from that, where did you get the protoss and zerg, and what exactly are you flying right now?"

"Both launched independent attempts to rescue my daughter, and we joined forces. Dehaka's ship is a leviathan."

"Right... I'll have planetary forces convene at an uninhabited area fifty kilometres from civilization, and prepare to take you to the city. I can't let the zerg be seen on this world after we just managed to wipe them out, so Dehaka must stay behind with my guards. Are any protoss in the room with you? I would speak to their executor."

The pilot adept stepped up. "En taro Adun. I'm secondary executor Ninis. Executor Yttrius sacrificed himself to ensure escape."

"En taro Adun. Ninis, do you have the means to contact Auir for assisstance? We of the Dominion would be happy to offer you and your troops transport back to your world. If you will need to wait before returning, I will arrange accomodation for you."

"We will contact Auir once we have landed, and they will send a ship to retrieve us. However, your offer is apreciated. Now, we must land." Said Ninis.

"Understood."

The operator came back into view. "You're cleared to land, and a viking squadron has been dispatched to escort you to the landing zone. Enjoy your stay at Mar Sara!" She said, with a perfectly rehearsed voice, and sweat-soaked brow.

* * *

The Behemoth's guards showed up quickly enough, and maintained a ring around the Behemoth as it descended. After a few minutes as the ship touched down in the barren desert, everyone made a beeline for the doors.

Nova jumped the few centimetres from the exit to the sand, and exhaled loudly. "We made it." She said. The glaring sunlight felt amazing on her skin, even if it was probably going to burn her.

Reigel was next off. "We did. Oh, there's our transport." Of the four vikings, two had landed and the pilots dismounted.

The protoss filed out next, all behind Ninis. "Now, that is something I'm never doing again!" She exclaimed. "Hey, get my ship outside will you?!" She called back to the Behemoth.

The other adept looked to her co-worker. Almost reflexively, she raised a hand to touch her missing nerve cords. Remembering they were gone, she asked "How are you feeling?"

"Proud. I'd say Artanis would be happy I didn't go to pieces on board that ship." Replied Ninis. "You still haven't gotten used to it?"

"...Yes. But now is not the time. We need to present confidence and strength while we're here." Answered the adept.

Casa and Dehaka were last. Casa jumped down onto the desert sands, and fell on her front, laughing. "This is great! Everyone's here. It's been like, a million years since I went here!"

Dehaka picked her up and put her back on her feet. "That is not possible. You are ten years old."

The viking pilot walked over, sliding up his helmet's visor. "Identification... you know what? I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say you're the only party on the planet that could be the one we're looking out for. Transport'll be here in three. We got some water in the ships if anyone's thirsty."

Casa looked over to him. "Do you have any food? I'm really hungry. I could eat anything."

"No. Pardon the question, but what kind of zerg are you?"

"Uhh, I'm not really sure. Hey mom, dad, Dehaka, did you ever decide if I had a title?"

Nova glanced back. "Look, we're trying to plan a way to cheat a system that's literally been genetically integrated into you, we have to plan with every second, no matter what."

Reigel raised an eyebrow "We're achieving nothing until we've gotten ourselves resupplied and fed. How does the Princess of Psionics sound? I'm sure someone suggested it before."

"Her body has finished it's predetermined growth. By standards, Queen." Added Dehaka.

"...The Queen of Psionics..." Murmured Casa. "...I don't think it fits, Dehaka. I still keep running out of energy, and I just can't fight alone. And I don't have any minions. I don't even have zerglings! And I don't have any idea how to make them..."

Nova shrugged "Maybe that's for the best. If you did, then it would be even worse if you came into range of that hivemind. We can knock you out, but I don't know if we can take a zerg army just turning on us. To answer your question, pilot, she doesn't exist. Remember that."

* * *

The transport arrived, and most of the group boarded. The air conditioned, clean metal interior was a far cry from the inside of the Behemoth, much to the relief of the travellers. Nova was sitting in the condititioned air with a light frown on her face.

"Ninis? There are a few things I need to discuss with you. Do you know anything about curing infestation?" Said Nova.

Ninis shook her head. "It's just not possible without the legendary artifact. Our most brilliant minds couldn't fully cure someone who was only half infested, and your daughter... there's not much of her original body left. Trying to remove the infestation manually wouldn't leave anything. Still, if there's anything else I can tell you, then I am willing to assist."

Reigel clicked his fingers. "There is one thing. I want to know if there's any way you can block a psionic connection without harming the user."

"We never explored such techniques, because they could be used against the Khala by the dark templar, but without its presence, I believe we could research one. You want to try and stop anyone connecting to Casa's hivemind?"

Reigel smiled "I want _Casa_ to stop anyone connecting to her hivemind."

* * *

An hour later, the protoss had left to contact Auir, and Nova and Reigel had brought back several items of just about every brand of food in the supermarket for Casa, along with a parasol and a large towel. It was a strange impromptu picnic of sorts, in the blazing desert of Mar Sara with a ghost, a commander, a zerg and a primal, and two viking pilots. Most of them were sitting on the towel, snacking.

Casa was not snacking. 'Snacking' implies you're just eating a little bit. She was surrounded by a rapidly-growing pile of wrappers and the occasional box as she demolished nearly half the food her parents had brought at hungry zerg speed. The viking pilot that was closer to her could have sworn some things didn't even touch her mouth she was eating so fast. Finally, she slowed down. "So... any ideas about cheating the swarm?" She asked, peeling the plastic off a packet of ham.

"We're looking into finding a techinique to block a connection, and I have another plan." Said Nova. "Alexei Stukov. Of all the swarm, he would be most likely to sympathize with you. Maybe with his help, we can either convince Zagara to leave you be, or find a way to mask your power."

"..." Casa looked down. "I don't really want to be hunted for the rest of my life. Why can't I just... de-volve it?"

Dehaka looked at her. He was the only one outside the parasol's shade, soaking up the warmth of the environment. "It is what keeps you from changing so readily. I am not intimately familiar, but, a hivemind can be commanded to deny the bearer any change of essence. Yours has been tasked with making sure you cannot change. That includes removing it. It is why we primal zerg have purity of essence, and the swarm do not."

"Huh... Well, we'll beat it! If the swarm added this, they can remove it, right?" Said Casa.

"But why would they co-operate?" Said Reigel.

Nova looked around the group. "Well, if push comes to shove, I'm the best assassin on record. Never had to blackmail an overqueen before, but I'll give it a shot."

"Let's get our plans straight. First, we wait for the Protoss to come in with their technology and techniques. If that doesn't work, We'll talk to Stukov. Then we'll run. And if we can't run, we'll try and force them to let you go." Said Reigel. "Dehaka, can we count on you to help? If you want payment, we have anything you can imagine short of godhood. Though, we might not have so many allies if this goes sideways."

"I will follow for as long as essence can be collected."

"Good enough."

Casa smiled "It's so great to have all my family here like this!" she said cheerily.

One viking pilot raised a hand. "Uh, question?"

"Speak." Said Nova.

"I don't really know what you guys are doing, but if you're this well-connected, then Valerian is a generous ruler. Can't he help?" He glanced at Dehaka, wrestling out his second question. "And... am I allowed to know why there's a friendly zerg? It doesn't seem to be under anyone's control."

"No. I owe Valerian after what I've just done, not the other way around. As for Dehaka... Well, I'd say he's just here to get what he wants." Explained Reigel.

* * *

Back on the Behemoth, minus the pilots, Ninis was on the other end of the communications system. "Our scholars are researching the technique as we speak. Apparently it was always planned, but they simply hadn't gotten around to it, but it may take a while. Also, before you go, I've been asked to patch you through to someone else."

Ninis faded out, and was replaced by a familiar phase-smith. "En taro adun, Nova, Dehaka. I've heard you'll be going against the swarm, and I'd like to ask a favor. I've nearly finished remodelling Probius, but I need to test him. If you come to these co-ordinates, I'll lend him to you. His upgrades will allow him to instantly warp in pylons and cannons, and create unstable rifts as a method of attack. No longer a worker, more of a rapid fortifier. Useful if you need to quickly expand a base somewhere hostile. But, well, there could be glitches. So don't rely on him."

"Useful. We'll come and pick it up once we get a ship from our planet." Said Nova.

The communication channel closed. Reigel looked at the organ. "Does anyone know if it can contact Stukov? It looks like it could be powerful enough, but I'm not sure..."

Dehaka started growling into the device. Eventually, it flickered to life.

An infested terran came up on the screen, but it wasn't Stukov. "Captain Benjamin speaking. State your, busi-ness." they coughed.

"Need to speak with Stukov. Where is he?" Said Dehaka.

Benjamin turned. "Vice-admiral, it is Dehaka. He asks for you directly. Sir."

Benjamin got up and was replaced with Stukov. "Ahh, lost comrade. What do you need? For the right price, of course."

"I need information. How to remove a hivemind." Said Dehaka.

Stukov shrugged. "Uninfesting the target is the only way I know. It's for Casa, right? Your little adventure has been all the upper politicians have talked about recently. It's all some kind of entertainment to them. Unfortunately, that also means that Zagara knows all about it. She's a political force too, now." He sighed. "Meet me in person, at Zerus, two hours from now. I can't guarantee I'm not being monitored." The transmission cut.

Nova frowned. "Zerus? Why would he want to meet on your planet in particular? It's under swarm control anyway..."

"That's not the worst of it." said Reigel "I can't believe I didn't consider this, but Zagara is a political force now. Perhaps she's not a perfect diplomat, but she's clever enough to shut down most of the help we could recieve from the Dominon or Daelaam. And going up against such overwhelming numbers would only end one way. It won't be like the UED fleet, where most of their forces were distracted and forced to attack us in small groups. We can't hope to beat the swarm through force alone."

* * *

The Behemoth came into orbit over Zerus within the necessary time, Probius on board. Nova had wanted to go and get her own ships, but two hours simply wasn't enough time. She was waiting by the exit, as far away from any onboard zerg as possible.

She was really getting tired of the inside of the giant organism. And the fact that the whole ship was full of zerg certainly didn't help her nerves. Even more so when she remembered that they were obedient by evolution, and had no guarantee they wouldn't just turn on her. Still, her rifle was in working order and her hostile environment suit was at a reasonable 60% charge.

As she felt the ship coming into the planet's gravity, she reached out with her mind, looking for anything useful. There were some slight signatures a few thousand metres away, belonging to the Aleksander. There was the hivemind of Zerus's swarm, faint from this distance and probably impenetrable. And even a third cluster of psionics, slowly approaching. Wait...

"Dehaka! It's a trap! We mustn't land! Dehaka!" Nova shouted. Nobody was able to hear her.

* * *

Deserter Freya Jo-Miller was back with a vengeance. Her left eye was gone, and had been removed. She'd taken the opportunity to replace it with a powerful camera. Her fleet of mutineers was only small, crippled by the loss of her Admiral's flagship, but nobody on board cared. They were here for one reason only. Vengeance, no matter the cost. For the fallen. For those to fall. For earth. Freya was not the most charismatic leader, but she had the patriotism it took to rally the others who had nothing to lose after the heavy losses of those presumed safe.

"Do not open channels to our targets. Are our warheads online?" She buzzed to her squadron.

"Affirmitive, Freya!"

Freya decided it was time to say something to the few people with her who'd given up on their lives. She opened a channel to all her ships. "Everyone. I'm sorry for your losses. May this be the funeral your allies deserve! We will honour their memory! Our candle-flame will burn forever!"

The fleet accelerated.

* * *

Stukov was descending to the planet alongside the Behemoth. His orders were simple. Kill them all. He'd turned them this way and that, but in the end, he didn't have any desire to spend whatever life his unstable body had as a renegade. He was nothing if not loyal to his cause. Not to say he didn't have his doubts. But this was his duty.

Captain Benjamin saluted his commander. "This will, be, a challenge for you sir. If we strike at the wrong time our target may escape. The cowards, have no problem running."

"There is a small, but distinct difference between cowardice and simple strategy. Cowards regret running." Said Stukov. "No. They are perfectly right to try and abandon this fight. Which is why we must wait for our re-inforcements. What is the ETA?"

"She will be here in twenty minutes. For the time being, planetary control has been transferred to us."

Stukov probed the hivemind. It readily accepted him. "Good. With any luck, we'll be back at Char in time to watch the daily volcanoes. Rally the troops, Captain."

 **Author's notes: It is about to go down. This will be the grand climax of this story, I never intended it to be too long. Next chapter will be a marathon, and it will be the biggest, most painful battle I have ever tried to write.**

 **Mpopl2: Casa had a hivemind installed by Abathur that answers to Zagara's swarm. Casa won't be getting to control any zerglings, since she would get hijacked by Zagara if she did.**


	13. Chapter 13: Goddess from the machine

The Behemoth landed on Zerus. Nova was sprinting through the corridors as fast as she could, but the second it touched down with a small bump, her heart sank like a stone. Still, she kept on until reaching the others, on their way to the exit.

"It's a trap. There's another group of terrans approaching, and they're moving at full speed. I'm not sure if they're here for us or Stukov, but we need to leave now-"

A sound loud enough to nearly deafen her shook the leviathan. It was unmistakably one big, bad explosion.

Casa looked around wildly. "Did that hit us? What was that?!"

Dehaka looked at the walls of the Behemoth, studying the bloodflow. "We are damaged. I will send my pack outside. But, must be at nerve centre to release ultralisks. Go to the exit. I will tell the pack to guard you." He turned to a nearby hydralisk and gave a complex string of growls. It slithered off, presumably to alert the rest of Dehaka's troops.

Reigel looked back to Casa. "Let's go."

"R-Right!" Said Casa, looking back at Dehaka. The whole group had been awake for eighteen hours. The weariness was starting to affect all of them.

* * *

Casa stumbled outside, looking around. There was Stukov's ship in the distance, and nearly everything was levelled around both crafts, by explosions- there had clearly been more than one. The sky was filled with small UED ships, and while half were fending off wild mutalisks, half were already focusing their attacks on the Behemoth.

Nova looked at the blasts and swore. "Miniature nukes. How many of us are radiation-proof?"

A viking swept down, gatling guns blazing. It would have ripped Nova apart, but a roach intercepted while hydralisks fired back. A few tough spines caught in the engines, and more pierced the metal. The viking went down.

More ships came closer, and Casa stepped forwards. She held out a hand and concentrated to the best of her ability. There was a screaming sound as the metal of the closest three ships was ripped in half by her telekinesis. "There are way too many!" She said in panic.

Reigel drew a pistol from his side. He'd left his gauss rifle in one of the rooms, and really regretted it. "We're exposed here. Let's move to a forested area and let the pack deal with these ships. Come on." He started guiding the ever growing group away from the Behemoth.

When they were about fifty metres away, there was a sudden orange glow behind them. Casa spun, to see a few fast ships carpet bombing with firebombs. "Dehaka!" She cried involuntarily.

"He'll be fine, just keep going!" Shouted Reigel. Casa started to move. "No, he literally has fire immunity! Don't be stupid, Casa!"

Casa shook her head. "I'll kill you if you're lying." She returned to her retreat.

Nova was scanning the skies. Infested crafts were beginning to combat the UED forces, and she could see infested marines approaching through the radiation fields. "Stukov is fighting back. We should try and reach him."

"Let's go, then. The UED might land ground forces." Said Reigel.

They pressed on through the dense jungle, as the sounds of battle grew even louder. Then, they heard the telltale sound of a medivac. Reigel wasn't a perfect soldier, and in a second of hazy thought, went to check if it was friendly. Immediately, a few commandos opened fire. Reigel fired back, but his pistol wasn't any good. Nova picked off one with a snipe. Eventually, Casa decided to try and break the suppressing fire. With a long, graceful lunge, she was in the middle of the group. Her tails flashed, each finding it's mark quickly enough. With four fallen enemies around her, she clutched her side and staggered back to the pack. "I misjudged. Gunshot wound. Not too deep." She said through gritted teeth.

"Just leave the fighting to the pack. That's why they're here! Now come on, before more land!" Nova shouted. It was too late for that, as three more squads of commandos landed around them.

Casa waited for the pack to set upon them, but realised they were being defensive. Dehaka's orders must have left them nonaggressive... she _had_ to change that. She sat down. "one second, mom..." Casa said. She tried to clear her mind, ignore the noise and pain. Okay... what growl would tell the pack to attack? Could she even make that sound? She vaguely recalled Dehaka using the command... It was chittering. But the pattern? No luck. Either way, time was up. Casa turned to the nearest zerg, a hydralisk, and tried her hardest to mimic the sound. It worked.

Immediately, every zergling broke cover and charged the enemy lines. The Hydralisks positioned aggressively and started firing into the enemy groups with increased speed. There was some screaming from the commandoes, and then silence. Then the next round of firebombs hit.

Casa felt the heat on her face intensely. They hadn't been a direct hit, but about a quarter of Dehaka's forces were nothing but cinders. But that wasn't her main problem. The pack was running wild, leaving them behind to recklessly engage the enemy. Casa realised they were in big trouble. "We have to keep going! I messed up!" she cried.

The group kept moving, as fast as they could. It felt like an eternity, but they reached the infested lines just as the UED lost their air superiority. A few soldiers stepped aside and gestured for them to come behind the lines. One came forwards and saluted. "Captain Benjamin, at your service. Our ship has been disabled, but we can shelter you from the enemy for a moment. Take cover there." He awkwardly pointed to a large rock. The group stumbled over to it. Benjamin followed.

Nova felt uneasy, despite the relative safety of the area. Then it clicked. Literally. Benjamin had a revolver to her head. "Do not hold this against me." Said Benjamin. "But we're under orders to kill you all." A dozen swarm roaches unburrowed around them.

* * *

Dehaka leapt from the flaming Behemoth, gauss rifle between his teeth. One look and he could tell it was dead. His flame resistance had certainly paid itself off. He glanced around the chaos of the battlefield, seeing the UED forces rapidly getting pushed back. Wait, that was his pack doing the pushing- _where was Casa?!_ He sprinted towards his wayward kin, as more and more went down to the UED's defensive wall.

He noticed the blast craters were still searing hot with a barely familiar energy. He considered going near one, until he remembered exactly what they were: nuclear. Radiation was still poisonous to him, for all his genetics. He pressed on faster, trying not to spend long in the blast zone. A few sniper rounds were aimed at him from afar, but no real harm came to him before reaching his pack. Instantly, he had his forces pulling away from the suicidal offensive, falling back to defensive terrain. He made sure the UED were in no position to chase, and then started looking around for Casa. Smell wasn't helping. Everything just smelled of smoke and ash. The smoke of the blasts was making it hard to see around, too. That only left two options. Run and hide, or try and reach Stukov...

If he lost this battle, he'd be stuck on Zerus again, likely until the end of his days. The essence here was all so familiar that that would probably be twenty years. Dehaka took the remaining part of his pack, and started to move for the infested Terrans.

Then a Thor dropped down in front of him. Avoiding this fight wasn't an option. Those guns would shred him given the chance. With a commanding roar, the pack swarmed the Thor, Dehaka himself jumping up and trying to scale the machine.

* * *

Inside the Thor, Freya was punching in everything she had. She was a scientist, not a soldier, but she'd be damned if she was going to give up. She thrashed with the legs, set the guns to the highest settings, ignoring overload warnings, and finally, just got out of her seat, and looked around the room. Anything zerg proof? No. But there was a rack of guns behind her. She smiled.

Freya suddenly felt so relaxed, like she had all the time in the world. She lazily selected a pair of machine pistols, and felt the satisfyingly cool metal of the grips. There was a cracking sound on the cockpit glass. She ripped off her UED-issue tie, threw it on the floor and spat on it. She put her heel on it twisted for good measure. It struck her that she wanted her last words to be something memorable, not a scream or an empty promise or hope. So, as the glass shattered, and Dehaka landed in the cockpit, she frowned. And opening fire, she shouted at the top of her lungs the first thing to come to mind.

"GOD, I REALLY HATE MONDAYS!"

The pistols blazed, emptying their magazines wildly over Dehaka's whole front thanks to the recoil. They barely fazed him, most bullets just barely penetrating the skin, and certainly not stopping him from leaping forwards, dropping the object in his mouth, and tearing her throat out like it was tissue paper. She weakly punched him, defiant even as he wasted no time in consuming the vaguely familiar human.

* * *

Time was slow for Casa. Of all the group, she was the least tired, on a zerg's shorter sleep cycle. And even though she'd knocked some ships out of the air, she still had a lot of psionic energy inside her. In a fraction of a second, the miracle that is an adrenaline-fuelled brain was executing her panic plan. A wave of pure momentum radated from her body just as the pistol in Benjamin's hands fired.

Benjamin was tossed away like a ragdoll. As were the roaches... and her family. She looked to Nova in fear, who'd landed just a few metres away. Her mother got up quickly enough, fumbling for her rifle. "Behind you!" Said Nova.

Casa whipped her tail around, cutting an infested soldier apart. With the UED neutralised, all eyes were on the four terrans. Reigel picked himself up too, mechanical arm clutching at his real one. Nova, Reigel, Casa and the one surviving ghost of the Terra family were back to back. Infested and regular swarm surrounded them. For a second, nobody acted.

The first bullet bounced off Casa's defences. And the next, and the next. But it was an army. The shield wasn't too draining, but- "Casa." Said Nova. "Just blow them all up. Me and your father love you, but we're not survivng this. Just let loose and don't worry about us. Quick, before you're too tired."

"Casa. We're sorry we let you down. Goodbye. And no complaining. We just want our daughter to live. Nothing more." Said Reigel.

Casa choked. "I-"

"Hurry! Maybe we'll live anyway! We're psionic too!" Yelled the ghost.

Casa swallowed. She started focusing power, letting her barrier wane. Her body started to glow as it converted all stored fat and sugar to pure energy, her psionics struggling to hold in the influx of raw power. She'd never dared push herself to her limits before. She felt a bullet whizz towards her head, but evaporate before touching her. That was her cue.

There was a thundering boom as the telekinetic blast was released. Casa immediately blacked out.

* * *

Captain Benjamin had fallen back behind the ship for healing. The Aleksander was suddenly lifted off the ground, thrown like a pebble, and the wave of force impacted him hard enough to sweep him off his feet into the air. For a solid three seconds, he had a wonderful aerial view of the jungle of Zerus being flattened in one giant wave. He could see swarms of angry mutalisks rising, and the clouds in the sky evapoarating, and most impressively the giant chasm in the floor. Then he hit the ground and was knocked out.

* * *

Dehaka saw the wave coming, and ordered his forces to burrow to no avail. Even under the ground, they weren't safe as the wave ripped the floor away and tossed them into the air. The psionic-absorption plates on his back instantly overloaded and popped like heated clay, shattering. Dehaka himself was launched a solid ten metres. He landed on his feet, relatively unharmed, and looked around. Most of his pack were paste. A few previously unharmed zerglings were alive, but it was obvious their injuries would finish them off. Realising he was hurt too, he took the closest few, ate them to reconstitute himself, and forged on- Casa was in need.

The mud was thickly churned around the area. Dehaka was practically digging his way forwards. Onwards and onwards, towards the centre of the blast. He found something. It was a terran, caked head to toe in thick mud. Remembering they needed thier mounths open to live, he licked at the head until the mud came away. It was Nova.

She wasn't conscious. She wasn't breathing. She was covered in burns where the air itself had ignited. Dehaka could still sense she was alive, but again... not for long. He left her. There was nothing he could do, and no reason for him to do it.

He kept pressing until he reached the centre. It was a deep hole, chipping into the rock of the planet. And Casa was at the bottom. Thin as a ragdoll, eyes unfocused, and barely breathing. Dehaka ran over and immediately started trying to bring up the zergling. She'd never been this thin before. She could well be about to starve-

"H-hi, Dehaka." She whispered. "Don't. I'm... I don't have enough energy to eat it." She smiled.

Dehaka stopped. He knew it was true. That human emotion he assimilated all those days ago sent a pang of regret through the old zerg.

Casa brought her eyes into focus. "I... I have a request."

"I listen." Said Dehaka.

"Can... can you... never forget me? I don't want to not exist... I'm... I'm so scared to be nothing, Dehaka." Said Casa.

Dehaka was about to nod, when an infested voice behind him called out. "Not so fast, young one. I have a feeling you've got a goddess on your side."

Stukov, his uniform dirty and eyes ablaze jumped down from the rim of the crater, his battered boots gripping the floor. "Dehaka. Get that essence ready for her, and stand back." He brandished his giant arm. "Queen says that you live."

Stukov pressed his palm onto Casa's abdomen. Immediately, her carapace around the area darkened to a healthier colour. "Blood transfusion. Your body can handle the poisoning. Now eat that mess quick, or you'll die."

Casa grabbed the carcass out of Dehaka's hands and devoured it. She twisted in pain as her nerves came back online.

Stukov looked at the Primal zerg. "You. The Overqueen herself is here. I'm loyal to her first, but you can run if you want to. I won't tell."

Dehaka growled. "No. To run is to die here." he started climbing out of the pit. "You are not trying to stop me?"

Stukov shrugged "I'm here to make sure she lives. Have fun fighting the swarm."

* * *

Dehaka came to the rim of the crater to see a ring of uncountable zerg around the blast zone. Zagara's forces. Even now, as tired as he was, he had a plan. Dehaka slipped under the ground, and burrowed for the thickest part of the ring.

He tunnelled on and on, coming close to the surface to get his bearings. eventually, he locked on. His plan was simple and desperate. Kill the Overqueen. Assimilate control of the swarm. He was close now. As close as he could get. Dehaka sprang up from the earth in front of Zagara, thrusting forwards with a claw. There were no words. No stares. Just a feral roar as Dehaka aimed for his target's head.

Dozens of Hydralisk instantly fired at him. Thousands of the spines tore into Dehaka's flesh, the sheer momentum enough to knock him out of the air. Dehaka collapsed to the floor, drained of momentum and bleeding profusely. The taste of his own blood coated his mouth. It was metallic and bitter.

Zagara stepped forwards. "You..." Dehaka felt a spike pierce his back. "You were a fool to oppose me, false one."

Dehaka didn't move.

"Beyond hearing so soon?" Said Zagara. "Your essence will at least be of use to Abathur- AGH!"

There was a claw through her chest, a set of jaws crushing her neck and a tail stabbing into her back. Zagara flailed as the not-quite-dead Primal did his best to bite through her neck, more and more hydralisk spines firing into his back until Dehaka himself wasn't visible. Yet still he kept biting down, the chitin beneath his sharp fangs cracking. An Ultralisk ripped him off, and while most of Zagara's neck plates came with him, she was alive. He was trapped.

Zagara spat one last spine into his throat, yet he kept writhing, coming free and pressing on, his torso nearly in halves. He slashed at her again blindly, spines in his eyes. Zagara stepped back to dodge the swing, and then the spine from his tail caught her neck, driving through the soft flesh and mirroring the wound she'd given him.

Dehaka collapsed. He wasn't even recognisible as Dehaka anymore.

Zagara felt herself trying to summon an emergency Nydus worm, but the network wasn't able to travel that fast. Everything was going blacker and blacker, as she swore she saw a bright golden light...

* * *

Casa sat up. "He's dead. They're both dead."

Stukov looked at her. "It was inevitable... Wait. Both? He actually killed Zagara?!"

Casa nodded.

Stukov looked to the sky. "We're dead."

"Why?"

"Without her, her forces will run rampant. Another queen will take command eventually, but we'll be long dead." Stukov sighed. "Girl. Are you religious? Believe in any gods?"

Casa shook her head.

"Well, humor an old man, would you? And repeat after me. Kerrigan, deliver us."

Casa was silent. Hollowly, she said. "Kerrigan, deliver us."

There was a flash of golden light, and the voice of a woman saying "What the hell happened?!"

Casa looked at the figure- _figures_ before her. There was a lady that resembled her mother strongly, but with dark hair. She was even wearing a ghost's suit. Beside her, a man in a dirtied shirt, with slightly radiant skin and a pack of cigarettes in the arm. The man spoke first. "Y'know, you caused quite a stir. We were wondering why it was all going down on Zerus. Didn't expect anyone would call for my darling by name, though."

Casa looked on silently.

The woman spoke. "Casa Terra." She sighed. "Oh, how foolish I was..."

The man placed a hand on her shoulder. "You couldn't have known, darling."

Stukov saluted. "Commander Raynor. Commander Kerrigan. I would ask your aid."

Kerrigan crossed her arms. "You don't need to. Just this once, it's my fault."

"Your fault, ma'am?" Asked Stukov.

Kerrigan waved a hand to the side. "I've stopped time. I think I need to explain a few things to you. Especially you, Casa."

"...I don't care." Said Casa. "I don't have anyone left." She rolled over on her side.

Raynor looked at the girl and knelt. He softly said. "We caused every bad event you've known through our own arrogance. We'll fix them."

Casa didn't respond.

"We'll bring them back." Said Raynor.

Casa was instantly upright. "WHAT?!"

Kerrigan looked at the dishevelled zerg girl and nodded in confirmation. "I can save them. Now. Listen to what I say, because after this, you'll never see me again. I don't want any crazy cults."

Casa looked at Kerrigan with perfect determination. "I'll listen. I'll listen for eternity if I have to!"

Raynor smiled "Ten minutes will do."

Kerrigan looked at Casa. "Casa Terra." She said again. "How much do you know about me?"

"You were a commander in the end war, with mom."

"Right. Well. When I was young like you... I was taken from my family. I was trained to be a ghost, the best assassin there was. Every day, the training was until you were broken. For so many long years. I never had a childhood. And after I escaped that life, I lost my freedom again, by infestation to the zerg. I never lived a life that could be called normal. No matter how I yearned for it. The next parts are well known. I was cleansed of my hivemind, and I led the Swarm to victory against many foes. Eventually, at the end of the war, I ascended to Xel'naga."

"Xel-naga?"

"I'm a goddess, at least to a degree. I watch over all the universe and stop it from destroying itself. But I so wished to have a normal life... So I created you."

"But... Mom and dad are my parents?"

Kerrigan tilted her head. "Sort of. The moment you were concieved, I altered your genetics. Your psionics are a match to my old ones. I wanted to see myself get a normal life, so I made you into a copy of me. The girl I never was." She laughed dryly. "It looks like there really was only one path for me. Those psionics doomed you to this, Casa. And I'm the one who gave them to you, in some romanticised notion that you'd get to live a quiet life. And not only that, they got Zagara killed, Dehaka killed, your family... I should never have-"

"Don't beat yourself up too much, darling. Don't forget who you are. We can fix this." Said Raynor.

"Well. What do you want of me?" Said Kerrigan. "

"I want everyone back." Said Casa. "And... I think... I think I want... to be my old self. Without my powers. Because that way... I can still stay with both my families, right? Nobody will attack if there's nothing to attack for."

"I understand. I'm going to rewind the personal time of everyone you care about- I can revive a biological life form as long as they haven't been gone for long. And fix machinery too. Then, I'll cleanse you. You'll have a sixteen year old's body, thanks to that extra growth hormone Abathur put in, but I'll extend your natural lifespan by eight years to compensate."

"Um, wait! Dehaka and Zagara were fighting. Won't they just kill each other again?" Said Casa.

"No. I'll get inbetween them. Then force them to play nice."

Kerrigan closed her eyes. For a few seconds, her true form was revealed, the golden light bathing Casa and Stukov.

Casa began to glow as well. Her skin burned with the shimmering golden fire. She felt like her skin was peeling off, and her tails ached and ached. But it felt reinvigorating noetheless.

Eventually, the light faded. Kerrigan was nowhere to be seen, but Raynor was still present. He immediately covered his eyes. "Anyone got some spare clothes?" He called.

* * *

Nova awoke with a start. Her face felt really crusted and sticky, but she was alive. She sat up, observing the carnage around her. It was a miracle by all counts, she decided.

* * *

Reigel's body began to slowly put itself back together. It had been torn to mere molecules, and he'd known it would be, but still, here he was. "Am I dead?" He said out loud.

"I think we both are." Said the ghost next to him. "I... suppose I really am a ghost now, heh. God damn, that was a hell of an explosion." he started laughing.

* * *

Probius' golden frame unwarped from the heat damage. It wasn't a perfect repair, but... it was good enough to salvage.

* * *

Freya could feel a golden light putting her back together. 'Stop it.' she said. It paused. 'There's no reason for me to live. Maybe I showed as many people kindness as I could... but life just ain't fair, eh? I think I need to keep my allies company.'

She stayed dead.

* * *

Zagara was certainly no ally of Casa's. Nonetheless, the wounds on her body healed with a soothing comfort that immediately made her think of Kerrigan. 'My queen? Why do you intervene with me? Evolution discards the weak..."

"It was my mistake that cost you your life. Had I not interfered, you would still live. I am restoring the natural course as best I can, Zagara. And how many times must I tell you? You are queen of the swarm, now and forever. In fact, I only have one more request for you. Hold your fire when you wake."

"As you wish. Your reasons are mysterious, but they have yet to fail me."

* * *

Dehaka felt the thousands of spines sliding out of his torso. The poison draining away, and the large spike coming out of his throat.

"Dehaka."

"..."

"Dehaka. Answer me."

"Queen of blades?"

"Yes. Casa wanted you revived. I agreed."

"Casa... I was foolish to try and use her to replicate you. It brought no essence. Only death."

"I was foolish too. But I can fix my mistakes, and by extension yours. Now, when you wake, don't attack. Or I'll expunge you from the timestream."

* * *

On the surface of Auir, a small crowd had gathered around a warp rift that had appeared. Karax was warding everyone back. "Templar! Do not approach this rift, it's unstable and-"

A body was forming inside. it grew rapidly, and without warning a fully grown Protoss was thrown onto the floor. He writhed in pain for a second then shouted "Nerve cords! Cut them!"

Karax pinned him and another templar did the honours.

Yttrius relaxed as he lost the brainbending connection to the nearly infinite mind of a Xel'naga. "...That was a bit of a sensory overload. Yttrius, returning to service."

The crowd looked on in amazement.

* * *

Dehaka and Zagara woke with a start. Both eyed each other warily.

True to her word, Kerrigan appeared. "Hold!"

"Yes, my- Kerrigan." Said Zagara.

"As you desire." Said Dehaka.

Kerrigan turned to Zagara. "I am sorry for your inconvenience, but you may not assimilate Casa. I have cleansed her. Still, you are owed an apology from me. I should not have interfered, and I'm about to interfere once again. You and Dehaka will forget your grudges with each other. You will be on neutral terms, and will not kill each other unless you must. The two of you will meet occasionally, and exchange information. I'm not having a repeat of this fight in Koprulu. And I understand that's unreasonable. If you check your primary hive cluster on Char, there will be some extra minerals there. Good ones. Now, farewell Zagara. Hopefully we never have to meet again."

Kerrigan turned to Dehaka "I don't know how to feel about you. I guess It's my fault. I'll send you to Casa's old house, with the rest of them."

"What of my pack?" Asked Dehaka.

"Dead. So is your Behemoth. You'll adapt. I know that much. Besides. You've got allies in the Terra family. They'll get you where you need to be. Goodbye forever, Dehaka. I hope you survive... wait. Take this, actually." Kerrigan held out a hand. A bit of flesh appeared. "Just an upgrade to your body. Your genes will decay slower. Plus there's some new armour. Uh, and sorry about your arms."

Dehaka realised that just as they had been when Kerrigan met him, two of his arms were torn off. He shrugged, and swallowed the mystery meat. He felt stronger immediately. "Thank you for the essence."

"Yep. Now, careful you don't hurt Casa when you see her again. She's going to be kind of fragile."

* * *

The doorstep of the Terra residence was suddenly crushed under the weight of several beings. And a probe.

Casa picked herself up. "It's over!" She said brightly. "Kerrigan really did bring you guys back!"

Reigel stood up, and immediately shouted "Clothes! Casa, clothes!"

Casa looked down. "Oh yeah. I'll be right back, everyone."

Everyone sat around. Nova looked to Dehaka. "So... what are you going to do now? Back to hunting with your pack?"

Dehaka shook his head. "I have no pack. No longer."

"Oh. But... What will you do then?" Asked Nova, almost genuinely concerned.

"Mercenaries will do anything for credits, yes?" Asked Dehaka.

Nova blinked. "No stopping you, huh... I'll pay. At least, enough for a mercenary ship and crew. As long as you come and visit Casa. She... I think she sees you as just as much of a parent to her as us."

Reigel raised a hand. "Wait. Are we alive? Why?"

Casa came back through the front door, wearing a baggy shirt. "Kerrigan, that's why!"

"Casa!" Nova said warmly. "Wait... Casa? I can't sense you."

"Uh huh. I had Kerrigan take away my psionics. I don't like being hunted."

" _Kerrigan?!_ "

"Yeah. Apparently she made me to be like a second version of her that could have a normal life, but then it all went really badly, so she offered to fix all the damage! Pretty good, right?!" Said Casa. "I still want to explore, mom, but... I think I'll keep it casual. Maybe I'll go and do something boring, too, like an english degree."

"Hey, don't disrespect the degree..." said the lucky ghost quietly.

"...that is pretty good. I'll admit." Said Nova.

"Now, Dehaka!" Casa walked over slowly, bare feet against the rough pavement. "I have to say something. You spared me, then saved me. You've been like a parent to me, only with more teeth."

"called it" whispered Nova.

"But I'll just be deadweight if I come with you more. I might even get you killed again, and Kerrigan told me that she won't intervene again. So... well... Can I have a hug, before you go? Before you're gone forever? Like that one time two years ago, when I was scared you didn't like me? I still remember. I always will!"

"...Very well. But we will see each other again. Your parents were clear. If I want to recieve aid from them, I must come and visit."

"Mom!" Casa said ecstatically, as Dehaka drew her into the requested hug. Even if she was much taller, and he was missing two arms, he could still completely wrap her with his arms and tail.

Dehaka let go after a few seconds. "Terran gestures still confuse me... but, you have my favor, Casa Terra. Know that you made a fine zerg."

"Well, let's all come inside for now. Mom? Dad? I... have one last question."

"Anything you want." Said Reigel.

"Can we throw a party?"

 **Author's notes: And the moral is... Don't try and recreate a god without one to help. Seriously, it's a recipie for disaster.  
**

 **This was the last main chapter, which I always planned to be things spiralling completely out of control for everyone and Kerrigan being forced to reveal herself. The method would have differed based on whether Casa was zerged or not (Cyber Casa would have gone even more against the UED, here Valerian is left to mop them up.) but everyone was going to die- and get resurrected.  
**

 **There will be an epilogue!**


	14. Chapter 14: Epilogue

**One year later.**

Casa was waiting for the ship to land as she did every other friday, and had been for nearly an hour now. A bag full of art supplies was strung over one shoulder, while her gym clothes stood out against the rest of the port's staff in uniform. She pulled up the display again, and watched the little blip grow closer and closer. Ten... nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two-

The ship landed. It was a somewhat outdated model, but constant trips to the workshop kept it powerful. Casa could see all kinds of blast marks and repairs on the plating. Still, it wasn't too ugly, either. A door on the side unlocked, and a boarding plank descended.

Dehaka lumbered out. "Casa. Hello."

Casa jumped and punched the sky. "You're back! It's been ages, where have you been?"

"Char. Kerrigan also wished me to see Zagara occasionally. Peh. Also, hunting." Said Dehaka.

"Ooh. Did you find anything good?"

"Much essence. The crew of this ship are very useful. How is your... art?" Asked Dehaka.

Casa clasped her hands together. "I'm getting better. That one picture of the nebula was best in class!"

"Glad. Where should we go this time?"

Casa pretended to think about it. "Well, actually, there's something I want to show you here!"

Casa led Dehaka back to her house. "Hey, open up! He's here!" She knocked at the door.

A protoss in what could best be described as casual zealot wear- superficial golden plates with cloth strips, opened the door. "En taro Tassadar, Dehaka. Remember me?"

Dehaka tilted his head in confusion. The voice was familiar... "Yttrius? You were a purifier."

"Right first time! Kerrigan's resurrection trick might have worked better than she intended. And- oh, what happened to your arms?" Asked Yttrius, noticing two were still missing.

"Can regrow at any time. Saving as a surprise trick."

"Clever. Well, I guess we've all got some catching up to do. Shall we?"

* * *

Nova was sitting across a desk from Valerian. Valerian checked over a single file in his hands. "Okay, it's finalised. You're cleared of all charges relating to going rogue. You're officially no longer a wanted lady. Now then, why do you think I did this personally, since I have the whole Dominion at my side?"

Nova smiled. "If I took a guess... You want to have me back? Especially since you closed your _official_ ghost program. It can't be easy to raise new agents without tipping off the media."

"Your contract is here. I've also taken a few liberties to completely erase any trace of your family from the official records, should you accept." Valerian produced a sheaf of papers from under his desk.

"Well, I can imagine worse things to be doing." She got serious, and started reading through the contract. "Okay, it's all in order. Hey... just a side question... how did you clean up all the mess I caused with Alarak and the attack on the civilians?"

Valerian smiled. "I called in a favor from Artanis and we forced him to compensate us and that world, richly. Not actually a good move, since it nearly threw his faction into civil war for showing weakness, but perhaps that'll make him think twice before he does something that rashly again, hm? Now, you know the drill. You might not be a conventional ghost, but you're still expected to follow the rules."

"Of course, Emperor Mengsk."

* * *

Zagara and Stukov looked out over the horizon of Char, watching dozens of drones sift through the volcanic soil.

Zagara's psionics were making Stukov and the other nearby zerg uncomfortable. Eventually, Stukov couldn't deal with the brooding air any longer. "Can you stop that?" He said.

"No. I am considering something... risky."

Stukov raised an eyebrow. "I'm interested. What's the plan?"

"Those terrans... they intrigue me. By all rights, we should have crushed them like larvae. Yet they persist. Not only through us. Through the Protoss, and the Xel'naga. Why?" Zagara asked.

"If I took a guess, I'd say it's our minds. They work differently. I suppose they're weaker in some ways. They can give up. They can make wrong choices. But they're unpredictable. They can choose paths that you can't see. And of course, we have thumbs. Thumbs help." Theorised Stukov.

"You see... we still have a copy of that girl's essence, from when we infested her. Casa. It has been drained of it's psionic powers... yet I may have a use for it."

"The girl has also lost her powers if you're going to hunt her."

"No... I am considering creating a zerg-human hybrid. Not infested, but truly integrated, from birth. We will not make the mistakes we made before, nor those Dehaka made. I may be able to open new powers to the swarm." Said Zagara.

Stukov raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Now that _is_ risky. I love it. Any concerns, outside of creating a psionic that accidentally destroys Char?"

"We will not create a powerful psionic. It is why we are using Casa's essence- it no longer has any potential. None but that which Abathur will implant. She will be a weak psionic naturally." Affirmed Zagara.

"She? Already decided you want a girl, eh?" Said Stukov.

"The males of the species present increased physical strength, and lack of significant weaknesses in the body's cycles. We are already far stronger, and we will remove the weaknesses their lesser reproductive system afflicts them with."

"Well then. When are you going to start?"

"As soon as Abathur finishes collecting what I need."

 **Author's notes: Aaand it's over. Now is the time I reveal what some of you have guessed, this is actually a prequel to Princess of the Swarm by Howling Din. (It wasn't originally intended to be, but everything fell into place really nicely a few chapters ago, and I worked from there).  
**

 **Final reviewer answer!  
**

 **Mpopl2:...I can't actually find it! I found about a dozen typos because I posted it while VERY tired though, so thanks. And you have my blessing if you're taking inspiration from me, as long as you don't outright copy.**

 **And as I always will when officially putting a story to rest, a thanks to everyone who reviewed: Mpopl2, Howling Din, Guest, Arachnodon, pt1oef, PrometheusTheXelNaga, TerranMain, Electron97, and Samateus-Taal.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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